No Home Field Advantage: Themes in Journalistic Coverage of Western Visitors to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup

Abstract This study expands upon research examining how journalists describe the cultural clashes between Islam and “the West.” Much of the recent scholarship in this area has focused on how media represent Muslim immigration to European and North American countries. In contrast, this investigation analyzes media portrayals of Islam within the framework of Western tourists visiting Qatar for the fifa World Cup. Using qualitative analysis, I examine three themes Western journalists used in describing conflicts presumed to occur when Western soccer fans visit a Muslim-majority country. While the themes might suggest a continued vision of a clash of civilizations, there was little in the news reports that suggested blatant Islamophobia. In fact, the findings hint that the modern West might sometimes treat the Muslim faith in a way that does not reveal open hostility, but subtly chips away at some of the distinctiveness of the religion.