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In Stanis Elsborg’s assessment for Play the Game, A Game of Double Standards raises valid questions about Qatar 2022 coverage but does not demonstrate that the media applied a uniquely harsh standard to Qatar. Its central weakness, he argues, is a mismatch between a broad claim about the press and evidence built largely from individual recollections, selected headlines and comparisons that are not tested on equal terms.
What is A Game of Double Standards about?
The documentary argues that Qatar received unfair or unusually negative media coverage around the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It draws on accounts from people connected to the tournament, including former Qatari World Cup bid leader Hassan Al-Thawadi, and contrasts the attention paid to Qatar with coverage of other hosts.
Elsborg’s critique concerns the 47-minute version he watched, which was available to viewers in Europe on YouTube and Al Jazeera’s website. Play the Game knew of an 87-minute version but could not access it. His observations about the film’s selection, editing and omissions therefore apply to the cut he viewed, not necessarily to every version.
The title of Elsborg’s article is a judgment: the documentary calls out alleged media double standards but, in his view, does not apply a sufficiently rigorous comparative test to its own claim. His article is a critical account of the film and the records it discusses, not an independent audit of every underlying document or interview.
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Do the film’s anecdotes establish that coverage was biased?
The alleged newsroom instruction
Al-Thawadi recalls an editor telling a newsroom to cover matches if there was nothing negative to say about Qatar, while adding, “but don’t cover the positive sides”. He could not confidently identify the publication, and the documentary does not show the article or name its author. Elsborg suggests the recollection may refer to a Sunday Times article by David Walsh, which reported a similar account from one unnamed journalist at one unnamed newspaper.
Even if the anecdote is accurate, one reported instruction at one unidentified newsroom cannot establish how the wider international press treated Qatar. To support a system-wide claim, the film would need to show the reach, frequency and prominence of similar coverage across identifiable outlets, not just that a particular journalist may have encountered a hostile editorial direction.
The security guard’s account
A Kenyan security guard in the film alleges that foreign journalists were biased, changed his words, or used images of a worse neighbouring building to depict his accommodation. The film also includes RTS rejecting claims that it manipulated interviewees or altered their responses. Elsborg says the documentary does not identify the particular reports behind the guard’s broad accusation or provide enough evidence to resolve the dispute. The allegation is contested, not an established account of what the journalists did.
Comparisons with other hosts
Interviewees compare Qatar’s scrutiny with that directed at China, Russia, France and Tokyo. Elsborg notes a counterpoint from Amnesty International’s Steve Cockburn: Russia also faced considerable scrutiny, and the scale of Qatar’s project may help explain the attention it received. These points do not by themselves settle whether coverage was proportionate. They show why comparisons need to examine similar events and evidence rather than rely only on general recollections about different host countries.
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Did 6,500 workers die building Qatar’s stadiums?
The figure discussed in the film should not be described as a count of workers who died building World Cup stadiums. Elsborg recounts a Guardian investigation published on 23 February 2021 that counted 6,751 deaths among migrants in Qatar over specified periods. The data did not establish where each person worked, or whether their death was connected to World Cup construction.
| Nationality group in the Guardian figures | Period covered, as recounted by Elsborg |
|---|---|
| India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka | 2011 to late 2020 |
| Pakistan | 2010 to 2020 |
The distinction is between a country-level tally of migrant deaths over the periods covered and a count tied to a particular employer, occupation, construction project or cause. The documentary includes a clip saying 6,500 workers died building stadiums; the figures Elsborg describes do not support that more specific claim. The Guardian’s original headline was changed on 2 March 2021 from “as it gears up for World Cup” to “since World Cup awarded”. Neither the 6,751 total nor the original headline wording identifies how many people, if any, died working on stadium construction.
What did the Garcia investigation conclude about Qatar’s bid?
The documentary presents Al-Thawadi’s claim that the Garcia investigation vindicated Qatar. Elsborg argues that this presentation omits a material qualification: while the report sharply criticized the credibility of whistleblower Phaedra Almajid, it also identified conduct involving Aspire Academy resources that raised concerns about Qatar’s bidding process.
As Elsborg recounts it, the investigation found Aspire Academy resources were used to win favour with FIFA executive committee members, creating at least an “appearance of impropriety” and conduct that served “to undermine the integrity of the bidding process”. That finding is not the same as proof that votes were bought. Nor does criticism of Almajid’s credibility erase the report’s separate finding about Aspire Academy.
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The Garcia report also discussed rule violations by individuals connected to different bidding teams. That does not establish that every bid violated rules in the same way, or negate the specific concerns it raised about Qatar. The findings need to be read separately rather than reduced to either total vindication or proof of vote-buying.
How strong is the evidence behind the bribery allegations?
Almajid’s allegation and retraction
Elsborg recounts Almajid’s 2011 allegation that three FIFA executive committee members were each offered US$1.5 million for their votes. She later retracted the allegation and subsequently said she did so under pressure. In a 2014 Play the Game interview, she said she signed the retraction without a lawyer after threats of legal action and fears for her family.
According to Elsborg, the Garcia investigation did not base its conclusions on Almajid’s information and found no evidence beyond her testimony that intimidation by Qatar’s bid team caused her retraction. Her allegation, her explanation for retracting it and the investigation’s assessment are distinct pieces of evidence; none should be presented as an uncontested finding.
The reported conditional payment
Elsborg also discusses Bonita Mersiades’s 2018 book, Whatever It Takes: The Inside Story of the FIFA Way, and subsequent reporting about negotiations for a conditional US$100 million payment from Al Jazeera to FIFA if Qatar won. The Sunday Times reported that the clause was in a US$400 million broadcasting agreement signed 21 days before the vote. beIN Sports described the money as “production contributions”, said the arrangement was standard market practice and denied that it was intended to influence the vote.
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Elsborg explicitly cautions that the reported clause does not prove votes were bought. It is relevant to scrutinize the agreement and the parties’ explanations, but the existence of a reported conditional payment is not, on its own, proof of a quid pro quo.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What context about Qatar’s media strategy does Elsborg say the film leaves out?
Elsborg says the 47-minute cut emphasizes critical headlines while giving less attention to organized efforts to promote Qatar’s image. He points to Qatar Tourism’s Beckham stopover campaign and the Supreme Committee’s use of ambassadors Xavi, Cafu and Samuel Eto’o. Such campaigns are relevant context for a film about image-making; their existence does not establish that independent newsrooms were controlled or that their reporting was directed by Qatari organizations.
He also cites former Supreme Committee media manager Abdullah Ibhais’s accounts of journalist profiling, cultivation through invitations and exclusive access, and restrictions on journalists labeled problematic. Ibhais said that in 2019 he argued internally against a misleading denial concerning workers’ unpaid wages. These are his accounts of how the committee managed media relations, not proof that every journalist’s reporting was affected in the same way.
Ibhais was later arrested and convicted on corruption charges, which he denies. The Supreme Committee denied retaliation and said the case followed a corruption complaint. In 2024, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion finding his detention arbitrary and his fair-trial rights seriously violated. He was released in March 2025 after more than three years in prison. The committee’s stated position and the UN Working Group’s assessment should not be collapsed into a single uncontested account of his case.
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Do the film’s institutional connections prove who financed or controlled it?
Elsborg notes that Al-Thawadi chairs Media City Qatar’s Film Committee and is vice-chair of its board; Media City Qatar said it supported RCD Media Group’s expansion into Doha. Noon Films and RCD each announced the documentary as “our film”. Those connections may be pertinent context, but Elsborg cautions that they do not establish who financed the production or who controlled its editorial decisions. The available account does not demonstrate either.
What evidence would be needed to prove a media double standard?
A stronger test would compare coverage on a like-for-like basis across named outlets and events. It would measure not only whether critical stories appeared, but how much coverage they received, where they appeared, what evidence journalists had at the time and whether reports distinguished allegations from established findings.
For comparisons involving labour conditions, the underlying measures would also need to match. A careful analysis would separate the worker population, project links, time periods, employment status, inspection access and supporting documentation. Without those controls, a pile of critical headlines or contrasting anecdotes cannot show whether coverage was uniquely harsh, proportionate or comparable to that of other hosts.
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