The World Cup and Freedom of Expression in Qatar

2019 ◽  
pp. 107-122
Author(s):  
Craig L. LaMay
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Al Jazeera ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Fifa World Cup ◽  
Media System ◽  
The World ◽  
Media Politics ◽  
Labor System

This chapter elaborates on the effects of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup on Qatar’s restrictive media system, seeking to answer the question: how does the World Cup affect rights of expression and publication in a country that criminalizes, for example, blasphemy and criticism of the emir? Our analysis is based on conversations that we have had with newspaper editors in Qatar, assessing internationally known indices of press freedom and the growing body of academic literature on Qatari sport and media politics. Being home to news broadcaster Al Jazeera, Qatar is the most progressive member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on matters of free expression, but ranks low on international indicators. Qatar’s successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup has brought the country both new attention and criticism, with the latter focusing especially on the kafala labor system. Neither China nor Russia’s media regimes changed after hosting the Olympics in 2008 and 2014 respectively, but despite this trend, this chapter argues that Qatar has been relatively open to its critics, and the award of the World Cup has advanced conversations about sensitive subjects within the country.

scholarly journals Press freedom, social media and the citizen

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Pearson
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Printing Press ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Truth Telling ◽  
Codes Of Practice ◽  
Media System ◽  
The World ◽  
20Th Anniversary ◽  
African Media ◽  
The Right

On 3 May, 2013, AUT University’s Pacific Media Centre marked the 20th anniversary of the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day with the inaugural event in New Zealand. The event was initiated by UNESCO’s Programme for Freedom of Expression, Democracy and Peace with the first seminar on ‘Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Media’ in Windhoek, Namibia, on 3 May, 1993. The journalists participating in that event drew up the Windhoek Declaration which highlighted that press freedom should be understood as a media system that is free, pluralistic and independent. They insisted that that this dispensation was essential for democracy and development. The Declaration became a landmark document in the fight for press freedom around the world. This address argues that new ethical codes of practice are now needed that are inclusive of serious bloggers and citizen journalists. The author of this address states: ‘The printing press spawned free expression’s offspring—the right of “press freedom”—as pamphleteers fought censorship by governments in the ensuing centuries. Events are unfolding much more quickly now. It would be an historic irony and a monumental shame if press freedom met its demise through the sheer pace of irresponsible truth-seeking and truth-telling today’.

scholarly journals Football and sex: The 2006 FIFA World Cup and sex trafficking

Temida ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanja Milivojevic ◽  
Sharon Pickering
Keyword(s):  
Organized Crime ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Human Right ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
Fifa World Cup ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The World ◽  
Diverse Groups

The staging of the 2006 Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) World Cup brought together a wide ranging coalition of interests in fuelling a moral panic around sex trafficking in Europe. This coalition of diverse groups aimed to protect innocent third world women and prevent organized crime networks from luring them into the sex industry. In this article we will argue that as a result of increased attention prior to the World Cup 'protective measures' imposed by nation-states and the international community to prevent "disastrous human right abuses" (Crouse, 2006) have seriously undermined women's human rights, especially in relation to migration and mobility. We survey media sources in the lead up to the World Cup to identify the nature of the coalition seeking to protect women considered to be vulnerable to trafficking and the discourses relied upon that have served to undermine women's agency and diverse experiences of increased border and mobility controls. We conclude that measures introduced around the 2006 World Cup in relation to sex trafficking did not end with its final whistle.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Tamir Sorek ◽  
Danyel Reiche
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The United States ◽  
Abu Dhabi ◽  
Sporting Events ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Fifa World Cup ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Affairs

Sports in the Middle East have become a major issue in global affairs: Qatar’s successful bid for the FIFA World Cup 2022 (won in a final vote against the United States), the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final in Turkey’s most populous city Istanbul, the European basketball championship EuroBasket in 2017 in Israel, and other major sporting events, such as the annually staged Formula 1 races in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, have put an international spotlight on the region. In particular, media around the world are discussing the question of whether the most prestigious sporting events should be staged in a predominantly authoritarian, socially conservative, and politically contentious part of the world....

Issues around the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia: A showcase of how sports and politics mix

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 283-296
Author(s):  
Danyel Reiche
Keyword(s):  
Future Research ◽  
Minor Importance ◽  
World Cup ◽  
The West ◽  
Fifa World Cup ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
The World ◽  
Russian Politics ◽  
The Right ◽  
First Time

Summery The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia was another demonstration in how sports and politics mix. In protest of Russian politics, few leaders from Western countries attended. For this World Cup, public resources were misused in that half of the stadiums built in Russia were left as “white elephants” with no longterm use. The tournament in Russia marked a shift from the West to the East with sponsors from authoritarian countries having saved the business model of FIFA. The policy of fining misconduct during the World Cup showed FIFA’s commitment to protect its remaining sponsors while proclaimed values, such as fighting racism, were of minor importance. The case of Iranian women using the opportunity not only to attend their national team’s games in Russia but also to advocate for the right of women to enter stadiums in Iran showed that football can also be an agent for social change. In two countries (Germany, United States), World Cup matches hosted female commentators on television for the first time. In Belgium, players operated largely above the Flemish-Walloon divide. The article concludes by comparing the last World Cup in Russia with the next one in Qatar and identifying topics for future research.

scholarly journals Review: The struggle for media freedom amid jihadists, gaggers and ‘democratators’

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 197
Author(s):  
David Robie
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Press Freedom ◽  
Columbia University ◽  
Mass Killing ◽  
Media Freedom ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
The World ◽  
The Town

Robie, D. (2015). The struggle for media freedom amid jihadists, gaggers and ‘democratators’. Pacific Journalism Review, 21(2): 197-199. Review of The New Censorship: Inside the global battle for press freedom, by Joel Simon. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015. 236 pp. ISBN978-0-231-16064-3.One of the ironies of the digital revolution is that there is an illusion of growing freedom of expression and information in the world, when in fact the reverse is true. These are bleak times with growing numbers of journalists being murdered with impunity, from the Philippines to Somalia and Syria. The world’s worst mass killing of journalists was the so-called Maguindanao, or Ampatuan (named after the town whose dynastic family ordered the killings), massacre when 32 journalists were brutally murdered in the Philippines in November 2009.

scholarly journals Politik Media dalam Transisi Politik: Dari Kontrol Negara Menuju Self-Regulation Mechanism

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermin Indah Wahyuni
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Regulation Mechanism ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Public ◽  
Voluntary Regulation ◽  
Media System ◽  
Media Politics

Abstract: The political transformation in 1998 introduced a new era of Indonesian media which respects the public interest and implements a democratic model. The changing led to a new media-politics that have democratic character. This article will focus on the self regulation mechanism that becomes very popular in democratic mass media system. Those favouring self-regulation mechanism have usually justified it on the grounds that it is less damaging to freedom of expression than legal control. However this mechanism is not a panacea for all ills, because self-regulation can only work if certain pre-conditions are met. The analysis will be done by several conceptual frames, i.e: the concept of media in political transition, concept of media politics, self regulation mechanism, and statutory vs voluntary regulation.

scholarly journals Differentiating African Teams from European Teams: Identifying the Key Performance Indicators in the FIFA World Cup 2018

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-208
Author(s):  
Alliance Kubayi ◽  
Abel Toriola
Keyword(s):  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Key Performance Indicators ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Fifa World Cup ◽  
Video System ◽  
Performance Variables ◽  
The World

AbstractSoccer is the most popular sport in the world. Despite this global popularity, European teams in contrast to African ones, have dominated the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup tournaments for many decades. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the performance indicators that differentiated between African and European teams in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Thirty matches played by five European (n = 15) and five African teams (n = 15) from the group stages of the World Cup were analysed using the InStat video system. The results showed that European teams had higher averages than African teams on the following performance variables: total shots, shots on target, goals scored from open play and set pieces, ball possession, short passes, medium passes, total passes, accurate passes and corner kicks. Therefore, soccer coaches should take note of these findings as they could serve as a benchmark for African teams to set trends and improve their performance at FIFA World Cup tournaments.

Changing Qatar

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff Harkness
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Arabian Gulf ◽  
Cultural Preservation ◽  
Outdoor Air ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Fifa World Cup ◽  
The People ◽  
Gender And Sports ◽  
The World ◽  
Narrative Framework

Qatar is the wealthiest country in the world—and one of the fastest growing. Its current population is five times larger than it was in 2000. Photos of the Arabian Gulf micronation from the 1980s show a few modest one-story buildings. Today, Qatar’s capital, Doha, is a modern petro-boomtown whose futuristic skyline features a phalanx of space-age skyscrapers. In 2022, Qatar will be the first Arab nation to host the FIFA World Cup. To prepare, Qatar’s government has imported more than one million low-wage workers to construct outdoor air-conditioned soccer stadiums, subway systems, and megahotels. Today, Qatari nationals represent only about 10 percent of their country’s population. Changing Qatar explores how citizenship and nationality are reshaped in these global processes. The nation’s dynastic ruling family assures its conservative Muslim citizenry that Qatar’s rapid modernization will take place alongside cultural preservation. In doing so, the leadership employs modern traditionalism, a flexible narrative framework in which customary and contemporary are strategically merged. Based on three years of immersive fieldwork and 130 revealing interviews, Changing Qatar goes beyond the slogans to examine how the people who inhabit Qatar are coming to terms with its ascent. The book demonstrates how Qataris and non-Qataris reaffirm—and challenge—traditions in many areas of everyday life, from dating and marriage to clothing and humor to gender and sports. A cultural study of citizenship, Changing Qatar delivers a richly detailed portrait of this rising Gulf nation that cannot be found elsewhere.

scholarly journals Pass Completion Rate and Match Outcome at the World Cup in Brazil in 2014

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-34
Author(s):  
Michał Król ◽  
Marek Konefał ◽  
Paweł Chmura ◽  
Marcin Andrzejewski ◽  
Tomasz Zając ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Performance Index ◽  
Index System ◽  
Completion Rate ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Fifa World Cup ◽  
The World ◽  
Study Teams ◽  
Number Of Passes

Abstract Introduction. Having possession of the ball makes it possible for the players of a team to undertake a greater number of actions that can help the team win the match. The aim of the current study was to determine the number and completion rate of passes made from different distances in relation to percentage ball possession and the outcome of the match in the group stage of the FIFA World Cup held in Brazil in 2014. Material and methods. The study included 32 teams who participated in the final tournament. The performance of 266 players (682 observations) who played 48 matches in the group stage was examined. Only players who took part in the entire match were included in the research, and goal-keepers were excluded. The data used in the study, which had been recorded by means of the Castrol Performance Index system, were obtained from the FIFA official website. The total number of passes and the percentage of completed passes were analysed, which were classified as short, medium, and long, in relation to the team’s percentage possession of the ball (over and below 50%) and the outcome of the match (win, loss, or draw). Results. Out of the three types of passes which were examined in the study, teams playing in the World Cup in Brazil most often made medium passes. The number of these passes was the highest in matches won. These matches were also characterised by a significantly higher percentage of completed long passes. Conclusions. Players from teams who were in possession of the ball more than 50% of the time performed a higher number of all types of passes, regardless of the outcome of the match. The completion rate for these players was significantly higher only for short and medium passes.

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