FIFA 2014: World Cup of doubts

Media analysis on coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Rapperswil, June 10, 2014. The 2014 FIFA World Cup is a mere three days away from kick-off but fresh allegations of corruption regarding FIFA’s awarding of the world cup in 2022 to Qatar have seemingly overshadowed this years footballing showpiece. Long before this scandal reared its ugly head however, reports questioning Brazil’s readiness to host the world cup continuously flooded the media. There were doubts surrounding the organisational capacity of the host nation ever since FIFA decided to award the event to Brazil in 2007.

Based on the research conducted by Media Tenor, FIFA’s reputation has surprisingly improved throughout the last four years with negative tonality dropping from 60% in 2010/2011 to 20% in 2013/2014. However, with recent concerns brought on by the corruption allegations, FIFA is bound to receive increasingly negative coverage. Furthermore, with five out of six of FIFA’s main sponsors voicing their support for investigations to be carried out on Qatar, the integrity of the world football governing body will, once more, come under international scrutiny.

As regards Brazil, “Questions regarding the political turmoil, lack of infrastructure, recurring strikes, general security concerns and violence, have further cemented Brazil’s image as a ‘developing nation’,” suggests Roland Schatz, Founder of Media Tenor International. Just four years ago, however, the same questions were posed to South Africa, who, in the end, hosted one of the most successful FIFA World Cup finals. Reports of this year’s organiser’s inability to meet construction deadlines for stadia (including the venue scheduled for the opening) continue to be the main concern for the event.

This report is based on the analysis of 1,986 out of 253,184 reports gathered from 13 global TV news programs. The average inter-coder reliability in the first quarter of 2014 was 87,37%. For more information, please contact the principle researchers Andley Wu on +27 83 636 0797; e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Kerstin Klemm at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.