The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar

This article takes Weick and Sutcliffe’s five principles for “mindful management” and applies them to the phenomenon of sportswashing in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in Qatar in 2022. The five principles, known by the acronym FSORE, are Preoccupation with Failure (F), Reluctance to Simplify (S), Sensitivity to Operations (O), Commitment to Resilience (R), and Deference to Experts (E). Our research problem was: To what extent can Weick and Sutcliffe’s five principles of mindful management explain the dynamics of sportswashing in relation to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar? Through document analysis and the application of the five principles to the preparedness and crisis management of the football organizations FIFA and the Norwegian Football Association, we found that (1) the various stakeholders must have competence and preparedness so that they can detect unacceptable deficiencies on the part of championship organizers at an early stage, (2) it is still uncertain whether human rights and the implementation of new regulations for migrant workers will continue to be football’s focus, (3) past corruption and crime in FIFA and human rights abuses in the host country Qatar have diverted attention away from football’s “raison d’être,” (4) it may be possible to prevent and deal with unfortunate events and crises if one develops a more “resilient” or resistant organization, and (5) utilizing the football expertise of multiple sporting nations and democratizing decision-making processes has the potential to reduce corruption.