CHAIRMAN: DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI
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Qatar / Education

Qatar University holds seminar to showcase sports, media and Qatar 2022

Published: 25 Apr 2022 - 09:06 am | Last Updated: 25 Apr 2022 - 09:07 am
Dr. Moez Ben Messaoud, Associate Professor of Strategic Communication at Qatar University, coordinated the event.

Dr. Moez Ben Messaoud, Associate Professor of Strategic Communication at Qatar University, coordinated the event.

The Peninsula

Doha: With funding from Qatar National Research Fund obtained by Dr. Moez Ben Messaoud from Qatar University (QU), the Mass Communication Department of the College of Arts and Sciences at Qatar University organised, a two-day international scientific conference on “Media, Sports and Marketing Mechanisms of Qatar 2022: Challenges and Potentials.”

The conference was coordinated by Dr. Moez Ben Messaoud, Associate Professor of Strategic Communication at the Department of Media at Qatar University, and brought together several Arab and non-Arab intellectuals and professionals working in the media, marketing and advertising sectors to present their perceptions regarding the promotion and marketing mechanisms of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and highlight its impact on Qatar’s image, and the ability to promote it as a tourist destination and a cultural capital. 

Apart from its being an opportunity to build communication bridges between academics and professionals in various disciplines such as media and communication, sociology, international affairs, marketing and advertising, the symposium centred on axes such as the institutionalisation of sports and media, Qatar’s experience in sports media and its role in re-crystallising the concept of entertainment, and the emergence of a new concept of sports media geopolitics. Needless to say that the symposium discussed the importance of international sporting events in promoting the image of Qatar as a World Cup organizing country and consolidating it’s national and regional identity rooted in its Arab and Islamic affiliation. The recommendations will certainly serve the World Cup 2022 communication and marketing activity.

During his presentation in the first session, Dr. Jamel Zran from Manouba University, Tunisia, asserted that sports, like communication, are social phenomena that are strongly present in all societies and are constantly transforming, which makes them a scientific topic that interferes in its multidisciplinary interpretation, noting that the ambiguity that surrounds communication and sports in research reflects the societal expansion of these two phenomena. 

Dr. Abdellatif Ben Sfiaa, Director of the Higher Institute of Information and Communication in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, focused on a presentation titled, “International Sports Events and Betting on the Media: Qatar 2022 and Managing Media Performance,” on the importance of Olympic Games, world and continental championships, and the role of the media in managing their potentials. He pointed out that the 2022 FIFA World Cup is of an exceptional nature and that Qatar is the first Arab and Islamic country to organize a global event of this size.

Dr. Noureddine Miladi, Professor of Mass Communication at Qatar University, indicated in his presentation, “Media, Sports and the Formation of National Identity,” that some media and communication scholars believe that identity, in the modern nation-state, is no longer formed through traditional means only. The nation’s image is rather built through national institutions such as museums, educational systems, and the media.

In a presentation titled “Sports and football as catalysts for building local identity and highlighting soft power: the beIN Sport channel as a model,” Dr. Sebastian Sons, a researcher at the Centre for Applied Research in Partnership with Orient (CARPO) in Germany, pointed out that in recent years, sports and football in particular have become relevant factors in building identity in member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.