Does sportswashing work? First insights from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar

Can autocrats use major sports tournaments to shift public opinion abroad? This short article conducts the first systematic test of whether authoritarian host regimes win the desired image boost through sports mega-events. We analyze original data from a two-wave public opinion survey in Germany fielded before and right after the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. We find that among German respondents, the tournament start i) did not improve Qatar's image, but ii) increased sympathies for the Arab world, and iii) fueled criticism of the media, the quality of democracy, and the inclusion of minorities within Germany. Our findings reveal that international sports events may benefit an autocrat's entire region, while heightening polarization in foreign democracies. Together, this offers first insights into the various effects of sportswashing and autocratic image campaigns.专制政权能否借助大型体育赛事影响境外公众舆论？本文首次系统性检验了作为赛事东道主的专制政权是否能够通过大型体育赛事获得预期的形象提升。我们采用了2022年卡塔尔国际足联世界杯（2022 FIFA World Cup）开赛前后于德国开展的两波次民意调查的原始数据展开分析。研究发现，在德国受访者中，赛事开幕并未改善卡塔尔的国家形象，但产生了两项额外效应：其一，提升了民众对阿拉伯世界的好感度；其二，加剧了德国国内针对媒体、民主质量以及少数群体包容性的批评声浪。本研究结果表明，国际体育赛事或可为专制政权所属的整个区域带来形象增益，同时却会加剧境外民主国家的社会极化。综上，本研究首次揭示了体育洗白（sportswashing）与专制政权形象宣传的多重影响。