Qatar’s sportswashing is clearly audible in the official songs released by the World Cup host country

In recent years, there has been a lot of attention for greenwashing, the phenomenon in which organizations pretend to be greener than they actually are. For their own reputation, companies are equally guilty of greenwashing’s little brother: pinkwashing. Around Pride Week, companies change their Instagram avatar to a rainbow flag or sponsor a boat on the Canal Pride, while showing no understanding for the LGBTQ+ community for the rest of the year. In the coming weeks and months we will be exposed to another phenomenon: sportswashing. And it is more persistent than we think.

One of the first sportswashing examples took place during the 1936 Olympic Games. During both the Summer Games (Berlin) and the Winter Games (Garmisch-Partenkirchen), Adolf Hitler had the opportunity to show the world what a beautiful place Nazi Germany is . Dictator Jorge Videla used the 1978 FIFA World Cup to present Argentina in a positive way. In recent years, several Olympic Games and football tournaments have been held in Russia and China with the same goal.

Stomach ache

It is not always easy to understand exactly what is going on in a country when allocating such a sports tournament, but it should be possible to reverse the allocation at any time. Then athletes don’t have to travel to that country with a stomach ache and the media don’t have to make reports that ‘it’s not too bad’ – whether or not paid for by the organization.

In the meantime, we acknowledge our naivety. From the Netherlands we are busy rejecting the World Cup in Qatar. KNVB sponsors hardly dare to advertise. We eagerly condemn a supermarket chain because their commercial is not appropriate. Radio DJs Jan-Willem Roodbeen and Jeroen Kijk in de Vegte (NPO Radio 2) ignore the World Cup.

But Qatar quietly continues with sportswashing.

This is clearly visible in the official songs that the organization releases. One of these numbers is called Arhbo (loosely translated: welcome home) and another song Vamos A Qatar! (no translation needed). The image of the host country seems to be all that matters. But the official sponsors are also served by the organization, because as Orange national coach Louis van Gaal previously warned: ‘money, that matters at Fifa’.

Sponsors are therefore given ample opportunity to launch their own songs. For example, the South Korean K-pop group BTS developed a song with the lyrics for car brand Hyundai We’re gonna touch the sky, before the day we die. This choice of music shows that the sponsors are blind to what is going on in the world. And the world football association Fifa with them.

Back against the wall

Whatever you think about the fact that many Dutch people have conscientious objections and measure each other, it will not help as long as the organization continues to do its thing. Athletes, journalists and government delegations have their backs against the wall. Yes, we acknowledge our naivety about the World Cup in Qatar, but in the meantime the Formula 1 calendar is also filling up with even more sportswashers and dubious dictatorships continue to try to organize sports tournaments.

We can only impose stricter rules on organizing countries, including the possibility of a last-minute escape. But also by a critical one assessing the means of promotion for such a sports tournament, such as the choice of music, for example.