It didn’t take long before a picture began to emerge. Fireworks, proud Arabs, sword dancing to tambourine rhythms, euphoric followers and community across nationalities. At the same time, the questions came: Where are all the women? Where are the critical voices? And what exactly were these mysterious QR codes that appeared? Through the Snapchat videos, we got to see the championship in a new way. From places where there were no TV cameras. In the 36,000 videos, we have not seen a single fight, drunken episode or melee. It may be related to massive security measures around the matches. As Morocco made it all the way to the semi-finals as the first African and Arab country, we saw overwhelming Arab sporting unity in the videos. Despite the historically tense political relationship between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the Saudi flag was flown “everywhere” in Qatari streets after the victory over Argentina. The authorities in Qatar registered 765,000 visitors during the first two weeks of the World Cup, according to Reuters. For the first time, all the WC matches were played in the same city. Thus, fans from all over the world met, and it created an international brotherhood. – Extremely masculine Nevertheless, it is – with few exceptions – exclusively men who are behind the Snapchat videos. Of all the thousands of videos we’ve looked through, we’ve recorded only a handful of women, either in front of or behind the camera. Postdoctoral fellow and Qatari researcher Mari Norbakk is not surprised. She works at the Christian Michelsen Institute in Bergen. Only one in ten residents of Qatar is a Qatari citizen. The rest are migrant workers. – Over 70 per cent of migrant workers are men. Demographically speaking, Qatar is an extremely masculine society, says Norbakk. But it’s also about politeness, the researcher believes. – In Qatar and the surrounding countries, you try to avoid filming or taking pictures of a woman who has not given explicit consent. Drip of criticism Although the clear majority of the videos were positive, some of the senders complained. Some were dismayed by the heat, the quality of the food, poor organisation, long queues and long walking distances to the metro and the stadiums. A few made fun of the rainbow markings among international fans. Another fan who filmed himself in a canteen stated briefly: – Usually the food is not good, but today it is actually quite OK. Strict control There is no freedom of press and expression in Qatar. Local media are subject to the authorities. And international media covering the World Cup have had strict restrictions. For ordinary people, it is difficult to speak critically without risking reprisals, also on social media. Nevertheless, we wanted to delve into the experience of the WC for the “ordinary supporter”. We have systematically gone through what has been published publicly from Snapchat in the period 22 November and 11 December from seven locations in the WC city. A stadium, three social zones and three supporter villages. We chose Snapchat as it is a very popular communication platform in the Gulf States. About 90 percent of the 36,000 snap videos are from Arab senders. Many of them are Qatari, but there were also many who spoke other Arabic dialects. A few had limited Arabic pronunciation, suggesting they may be migrant workers. We know that many supporters have been engaged and paid by the authorities. Three weeks before the World Cup, the news agency AP revealed that 1,600 people have been invited to come for free against, among other things, posting positive comments on social media. – It is possible that someone has been paid, but considering the extent of the videos you have extracted, I think the method is reasonable. There is genuine joy among people in Qatar, including among the migrant workers who are there now. There is a feeling that now it is us who will be the host, now it is our home country, says Qatar researcher Mari Norbakk. Mysterious QR codes in the fan zone One of the supporters’ villages we have seen videos from is called Cabines da Vila dos Fãs. Here, the supporters’ rooms looked like small colorful barracks. Like a Legoland, the rooms were arranged in a row. The ground was covered with long grass-green carpets. As one fan walked between the barracks, he discovered a QR code stuck to the doors. He assumed it was whereabouts information. But when he scanned the code, it led to a web page. “Ask me about Jesus,” the website says. There you can watch videos about Christianity, read information and chat with the administrators in ten different languages. That displeased the Snapchat user. According to paragraph 1 of the Qatari constitution, Islam is the religion of Qatar, and Sharia law shall be the main source of legislation. The law prohibits non-Muslim religious groups from displaying religious symbols, advertising religious services or placing crosses outdoors. The man picked up the phone, posted videos on Snapchat and hoped the organizers in the fan zone noticed the QR codes. A few days later there were new videos from the same man. He had been contacted by “people” on Snapchat. When he walked between the same barracks again, he discovered that the QR codes had been removed. Islam on Snapchat We noticed that several snap videos had a religious message. A man entered a large white tent and saw four desks. When he saw Qurans and pamphlets about Islam in several languages, he was impressed. – There are imams here, but they don’t want to be filmed, he says. In another video, you can see a desk that has been set up in the open air in the fan zone. You can hear the man filming talking to a woman. – During the first week of the WC, seven people had converted to Islam, says the woman. Our reporter in Qatar found QR codes inside fans’ bedrooms. It said “Explore our civilization”. When one scanned the code, one was taken to the website of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Qatar. There you can download a booklet entitled “Understanding Islam” in nine languages. The content is, among other things, about creation, life after death and the five pillars of Islam. This code was on the wall in fans’ bedrooms. news has tried to contact both the Qatari government and the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, but we have not received a reply. Qatari researcher Mari Norbakk does not believe that the Qatari authorities have had a plan to use the football World Cup to convert people to Islam. – There will always be individuals who want to talk about their religion and believe that they are doing others a service and saving them from the pool of sin. But I wouldn’t put it to Qatar, she says. Norbakk believes Qatar is more concerned with showing off its Arab culture and tradition. And that through the football World Cup they have had a desire to give a positive image. news’s review shows that they have succeeded in doing so. At least on Snapchat.
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We’ve seen 36,000 Snapchat videos from the Qatar World Cup. This is what we found. – Norway
