We at news will broadcast many exciting matches during this year’s football World Cup. At the same time, we will use the opportunity to convey the stories that Qatar and Fifa do not want to show. We will use the power we have as a media house and rights holder to tell the whole story of the championship. FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Photo: WILLIAM WEST / AFP For a long time, news has shed light on the regime in Qatar. The public must be well aware of which country we are in during the football World Cup. We will continue with that work, also during and after the championship itself. Our goal is to give the public the experience the sport deserves, along with the attention Qatar and Fifa deserve. We must be particularly critical of conveying images and stories that promote glossy images of both Qatar and Fifa. Difficult choice Many people believe that the football World Cup should never have been played in Qatar. The way in which Qatar was awarded the World Cup in 2010 has been described as both unacceptable and undemocratic. The responsibility lies with Fifa’s management, Fifas members and the ruling elite in Qatar. EXPLAINS THE SELECTION: Sports editor Espen Olsen Langfeldt. Photo: Ole Kaland The responsibility does not lie with the players and the national teams. But it is the sport that suffers when money, power and politics rule. There is a clear divide between those who use football to gain money and political power, and those who love the drama that unfolds on the pitch. news will cover both of these stories. This has not been an easy choice, and we have spent a lot of time on internal discussions. But we believe that we should use our position as licensee to cast a critical spotlight on Qatar and Fifa, which is in line with news’s social mission. At the same time, we have a mission as a public broadcaster to broadcast major sporting events, and a football World Cup is the world’s biggest sporting event. This is no easy exercise – especially when the host country wants to limit our opportunities to carry out free, journalistic work. The regime must not succeed. Fifa’s processes up to the selection of Qatar as host country in 2010 have been heavily criticized and debated. The football championship was sold to a country that did not have the roads, football stadiums or available manpower to host such a large sporting event. The workers who built the football pitches, roads and hotels have been migrant workers without special rights. There have been reports of slave-like conditions with associated contracts. Lives have been lost. Qatar is a country that is in no way democratic, measured against our values. The spotlight on Qatar has shown us a country that has severely limited freedom of expression, assembly and the press, that violates human rights, and discriminates against people on the basis of sexual orientation. The link between authoritarian states and organized sport is not new. The purpose is mainly to be reflected in the light of what we as the public love, and which takes the focus away from the brutalities of the regimes. It’s our job to make sure that doesn’t happen. We must manage that, and we have also documented it for a long time: Through a number of news stories on the internet, TV and radio, news has uncovered systematic violations of human rights in Qatar. The aim of the coverage was to raise the level of knowledge and understanding of the complex picture that surrounds the host country for next year’s football World Cup. In this way, we have provided insight into the sports debate about sports laundering and authoritarian regimes. Our journalists were also arrested in the attempt to convey the more objectionable aspects of the regime. Fifa has promised that it is safe for everyone to travel to the World Cup and live in Qatar, regardless of who you love and what your orientation is. news showed that it was not safe for all supporters to stay in Fifa’s hotels. Greater pressure For 12 years, international pressure from the media and human rights organizations has produced some results that have improved conditions for some of the workers. The massive criticism of Fifa from both the media and human rights organizations has also led to changes in the awards. Fifa has adopted a human rights policy. We are committed to maintaining this pressure in the future as well. New criteria for awarding the football World Cup require human rights assessments. It is our opinion that journalistic coverage of objectionable conditions is more effective than boycotts. There are also no other countries or organizations that choose a boycott as a means of changing Fifa or Qatar. Therefore, we will use the floodlights from the stadiums to give the public the experience the sport deserves, but also to illuminate in floodlights what Qatar and Fifa really stand for.
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That’s why news broadcasts the football WC – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
