Speaker
Description
Peripheral countries hosted the main sporting events in the 21st century, we can say that these countries had a strategic interest in organizing mega-events. This study will analyze the way in which the peripheral countries used the mega sporting events as a discourse to expand their political influence and as public diplomacy. As objectives we will seek to: discuss the concept of diplomacy of sporting events in the context of global society and its limits; understand how the western media evaluated mega-events; analyze the speeches of the selected newspapers to understand how the countries were portrayed during the sporting event in terms of culture, event infrastructure and political values. It is expected to discuss with other studies the reasons/consequences that led countries to host these mega-events and what are the interests of large federations and international confederations in choosing them. With the exception of Qatar, for which we have not yet collected data, we will seek to take stock of recent research on tangible and intangible legacies and, especially, the problems faced by these countries in hosting mega sporting events. Some problems were raised to deepen this theme: there are academic discussions about international federations and confederations choosing these countries because they are fragile democracies, therefore, easier for legislative changes; locations with endemic corruption, which would facilitate agreements with global partners and the local political elite; particularly, we are interested in interpreting the first World Cup in an Arab country.
