The World Cup in Qatar continues to roll along into the semifinals. So far, the premier soccer tournament — and arguably the planet’s biggest sporting event — has showcased skill, drama and even some upsets.
What the tournament has also generated are plenty of different kinds of storylines for news reporters and sports writers to focus on. As is the case with sporting events in general there are lots of storylines connected to religion that have gone unnoticed.
It should come as no surprise that sports writers, and very often their editors back in the newsroom, don’t “get” religion. Go-to websites such as Fox Sports and ESPN, for instance, have failed to cover obvious stories in the past. They’ve also failed to do it in regards to the 2022 World Cup. For starters, think location, location and location. Why? Click here.
There are a few faith storylines — on and off the field — that did get coverage. Some of that coverage was great; some not so great.
An example of a very good piece came via The New York Times. The newspaper found a way to discuss Qatar’s use of migrant workers to build stadiums and other infrastructure projects related to the World Cup in a new way.
The feature, which ran on a Sunday during Advent, looked at Qatar’s only Catholic church, located on the outskirts of the capital city Doha — in an area in which the government sanctions eight houses of worship, from Anglican to Eastern Orthodox. This feature, written by John Branch, is one of the rare times when a sports writer left his or her “comfort zone” and ventured outside the bubble of stadiums and press conferences to cover a story.
Here’s the key section, showing why this story matters:
Qatar is a nation deeply rooted in Islam. Calls to prayer can be heard five times a day throughout Doha. World Cup stadiums have prayer rooms for fans, and some staff at the games will stop what they’re doing to kneel in prayer.
But there are only about 300,000 Qatari citizens in Qatar, a country with a population of nearly 3 million. It is a segregated and stratified society, where nearly 90 percent of the people are from somewhere else: the global south, mostly — places like India, Nepal, the Philippines, but also many parts of Africa: Egypt and Kenya, Uganda and Sudan.
They are the laborers, the service workers, the housekeepers. Their treatment, or mistreatment, in doing the dirty work of building this gas-rich nation has been a major story line surrounding this World Cup.
Migrants still work in every corner of the labor market. At the soccer stadiums, they are ushers, janitors, concession sellers, ticket takers. In many ways, they are the public face of Qatar, sprinkled through every visitor’s experience.
The Catholic press has covered stories with similar angles. A News Google search yielded the following results.
ESPN and Fox Sports have, to be blunt, not covered these stories.
Religion and religious traditions help to explain so much about the world and where people come from. At the World Cup, where nationalism is on display in the stands, when players sing their national anthems and in post-game celebrations, you’d think print and television reporters would be more journalism done around obvious, even visible, faith angles.
For Fox, which serves as the official broadcaster of the 2022 World Cup in the United States, the many hours of coverage (both pre-game and post-match) would find the time to address some of these storylines.
Let’s look at Brazil, a five-time World Cup champion and always among the favorites to win it all. It was back in March that the BBC did a feature story under the headline, “Evangelicalism & Brazil: The religious movement that spread through a national team.” This is how the piece opens:
It was derby day in Belo Horizonte, but that wouldn't change anything. Joao Leite believed he had a mission assigned to him by Jesus Christ: to spread God's word among other football players.
So that afternoon in December 1982, just like he'd done for every match for the past three years, the Atletico Mineiro goalkeeper randomly approached an opponent before the big game started.
"Jesus loves you and I have a gift for you," he told Cruzeiro keeper Carlos Gomes as he presented him with a copy of the Bible.
At the time, Gomes found it all a little strange given the circumstances. He even admitted to feeling in some way angry as he was handed the book.
But that initial feeling later changed and he did actually join Leite's religious movement — Athletes of Christ. He was far from the only convert.
An association of evangelical Christian sportspeople, Athletes of Christ counted some of the most influential people in Brazilian football among its membership.
At their first meeting they were four in number. That would grow to about 7,000 across 60 countries, including high-profile footballers such as 2007 Ballon d'Or winner Kaka and ex-Bayern Munich centre-back Lucio.
In the Amazon series “All or Nothing,” there were five episodes dedicated to a behind-the-scenes look at Brazil’s 2019 run to the Copa America title, the South American championship reserved for national teams. The series, released in January 2020, did not shy away from the players’ faith.
For example, the second episode — "A Team That Plays Together, Pray Together” — revealed the rites of prayer that take place before games and during in team meetings.
Many of the players are evangelicals, reflecting a wider growth of this Protestant religious movement among the Brazilian people in a country that was once mostly Catholic. Some are practicing Catholics, including head coach Adenor Leonardo Bacchi (who is commonly known as Tite).
There was plenty of research time the Fox Sports team in the months leading up to the tournament. To ignore the faith element of the Brazilian team — focusing instead on players dancing and post-goal celebrations — illustrates the ongoing news media blind spot when it comes to reporting on religion.
Croatia, who eliminated Brazil in the quarterfinals in a dramatic penalty-kick shootout, also has a religion storyline for anyone who was paying attention four years ago. It was at the 2018 World Cup where Croatia stunned the field and reached the final, only to lose to France.
I have previously written about Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic, who like Tite is a practicing Catholic. Dalic constantly prays the rosary and has openly thanked God during press conferences.
But put Christianity aside, for a moment. Islam has also been a major story from before a ball was even kicked in Qatar. The host nation deciding just days before the tournament began to forbid the sale of alcohol in and around the stadiums was a major international story.
The New York Times, like many large news organizations, did lots of stories about this. The Times continued to cover the issue as recently as last week by doing a story on where people had to go in order to get a drink.
The other big story tied to religion came in the days leading up to the big game between the United States and Iran to close out the group stage. The story that emerged on Nov. 27 focused around U.S. Soccer’s social media posts that did not include the emblem of the Islamic Republic on Iran’s flag.
This is how The Athletic, one of the best sports sites out there, reported on the controversy:
A U.S. Soccer spokesperson previously told The Athletic on Sunday that the federation made the change to “show support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights”.
However, they have since deleted the posts. A USSF spokesperson said: “Clearly the decision we made was to show support for the women in Iran. That stands.
“This is our decision, not anyone else’s or pressure from anyone else.”
Widespread anti-government protests have raged across Iran since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in mid-September. Amini was arrested in Tehran by morality police for allegedly not covering her hair properly; she died in police custody three days later.
Iran’s theocratic government has responded to the women-led protests with a deadly crackdown. According to Human Rights Activists in Iran, an advocacy group that has been monitoring the demonstrations, more than 450 people have been killed and more than 18,000 arrested as a result of the protests. Iran has not released arrest or casualty figures in months. Last week, the country blasted the UN’s announcement that it would set up a fact-finding mission to investigate the government’s response to the protests as an arrogant political ploy.
Like many stories with a faith focus, this one was covered widely as a political spat. Yes, this conflict was partly political, but there as no way to avoid the religion angle.
This is how The Athletic, who did a better job than most on this story, closed out the piece:
Iran introduced the Islamic Republic emblem onto its flag in 1980, one year after the Islamic Republic was established via revolution. The emblem includes four curves with a sword between them and is meant to represent the Islamic saying: “There is no god but God.”
The flag has become a significant issue at the World Cup. The Associated Press reported that confrontations broke out between Iranian fans at Friday’s match between Iran and Wales in Doha, Qatar. Pro-Islamist Iranian fans, some waving the Islamic Republic flag, reportedly confronted other supporters of the national side who wore pre-revolutionary flags or shirts emblazoned with “Woman. Life. Freedom”, which has become a rallying cry for the protest movement.
Morocco, on a Cinderella run at this World Cup, united the Arab world. That story either went ignored or was covered through a political lens. Middle East Eye, a website that covers the region, captured the team’s importance by saying “the North African team has come to represent something bigger than football.” Like what?
This is the key section about the importance of Morocco’s run, solidarity with other Islamic nations and what it means geo-politically:
Several Moroccan players have been seen carrying the Palestinian flag after victories. While fans in the stadia have also raised flags in solidarity with Palestinians, the symbolism of footballers doing so on the pitch after a game is hugely significant.
By displaying the Palestine flag at the height of celebrating a career highlight with fans, the Moroccan team has centred the Palestine issue in the collective hearts and minds of people around the region. As Riyad Mansour, Palestine ambassador and permanent observer to the United Nations, said: “The winner of this World Cup is already known: it is Palestine.”
Soccer is said to be like a religion. It can be for so many. That’s a story many in the press like to follow and cover. However, when it comes to actual religion and the World Cup, there isn’t the same interest.
There are plenty of stories tied to faith at this World Cup. It’s a matter of journalists digging a little deeper and being willing to venture of their “comfort zones.”
FIRST IMAGE: Brazil star Neymar wears a “100% Jesus” headband before a game. Photo via Wikipedia Commons.