Qatar wants to use the 2022 FIFA World Cup as a soft power mean. They want to remove stains on their reputation via sportswashing. However, there is reason to believe that this effect might not occur in the case of Qatar, or in other words; that the tournament has a soft disempowerment effect on the state of Qatar. By doing a discourse analysis this study exams if the soft power efforts of Qatar have been successful, primarily in the Swedish context by examining how the Swedish media and Swedish FA articulates about Qatar, but also in the context of FIFA. The study also examens whether the articulations can be labeled as cases of Orientalism. The results show that in the Swedish context, both an orientalist and soft disempowerment-discourse are showing, and in the case of FIFA an orientalist discourse and a discourse which suggest that the tournament has been a good soft power resource in the eyes of FIFA occurs.

Both Qatar and FIFA have been heavily criticised for the bribes and corruption resulting in Qatar obtaining the FIFA World Cup 2022. Over 6500 migrant workers in Qatar are said to have lost their lives during the construction of new arenas, and the media is an essential part for this being acknowledged. This essay examines and identifies the discourses that are dominating the articles written in the awakening of FIFAs World Cup in Qatar 2022. This will be done through studying the portrayal of Qatar in Dagens Nyheter, the Guardian and Gulf Times. The articles are studied through a narrative analysis method with support from agenda setting, framing and gatekeeping theories. The results show that western media portrays Qatar as unworthy of the world cup, while Qatari media ensures that the country will create the greatest world cup in history. The results suggest that Qatar is guilty of sportswashing through their government-controlled media.