Paper short abstract:

This study aims to unravel the role of athletes as activists. It analyzes the social media activity of the Iberoamerican participants in the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup. The findings show that neutrality dominated. The massive silence about Qatar contributed to a normalisation of the event.

Paper long abstract:

Our study investigates the role of footballers and coaches through social media in shaping international perceptions of Qatar during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This tournament was a key element of Qatar’s sports diplomacy that faced criticism because of corruption allegations, human rights issues, labour conditions, and treatment of the LGBTIQA+ community. This study is based on a content analysis of the Twitter and Instagram accounts of the footballers and coaches of the 8 Ibero-American national teams that took part in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It aims to unravel the role of athletes as sports diplomats and activists. Accordingly, this article studies the posting frequency, how they address Qatar's image, and their engagement with the aforementioned criticism of the host country. The findings show that from a total of 275 posts that mentioned Qatar, neutral messages are dominant with 268 posts while there were only 7 positive posts. In conclusion, the Ibero-American national teams have contributed to a normalisation of the event through their massive silence about the host country, which makes us suggest that the footballer has a more conservative role in political terms.