Soft power has become increasingly important for emerging states to establish themselves on the global landscape. Sports mega events present the perfect opportunity to do so in allowing the host...Show moreSoft power has become increasingly important for emerging states to establish themselves on the global landscape. Sports mega events present the perfect opportunity to do so in allowing the host country to engage in nation-branding and image promotion. Academic literature suggests that hosting a sports mega event contributes extensively to the host country’s soft power. With an unfavorable international reputation, Russia recognized the necessity to improve on its soft power and hosted the 2018 FIFA World Cup. However, Russia’s soft power remained seemingly unchanged despite the expected soft power impact of hosting a sports mega event. Academic literature fails to account for the crucial role of the media in determining the success of a sports mega event in combination with the fragile nature of soft power. This thesis argues that negative media narratives resulted in Russia’s inability to increase its soft power despite hosting a sports mega event, and, thereby, that the role of the media has been largely neglected in sports mega event discourse. Negative effects of sports mega events are identified, and corresponding keywords are applied in a qualitative content analysis to analyze negative media narratives in newspaper articles. Subsequently, it is explained what role the media played in the impact Russia's hosting of the 2018 FIFA World Cup had on the country's soft power based on narratives of corruption and human rights violations as well as Russia’s projection as international ‘bad guy’.Show less
