PERCEPTION OF THE 2022 FIFA WORLD CUP IN QATAR IN ARAB LIBERAL ANALYTICS AS A FORM OF POLITICS OF MEMORY

Introduction. The author analyzes the informational discourse of the World Cup in Qatar through the prism of collective historical memory. It is assumed that the Qatari Championship turned out to be both a sporting and political event. The article highlights the main problems that formed the information agenda, as well as the vectors and trajectories of the interpretation and perception of the Championship by liberal analysts and experts. Goal. The purpose of the article is to analyze the main directions of the liberal perception of the World Cup in Qatar in the information discourse of “Al-Araby Al-Jadeed” through the prism of the historical politics of memory.

Methods. The author uses the methods proposed within the memorial turn in modern interdisciplinary historiography, which make it possible to identify and systematize the features of the transformation of the collective historical memory of Arab societies through the prism of sports, actualised by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Scientific novelty. The article is one of the few attempts to interpret the historical politics of memory in modern society in the context of the perception of sports as an element of the memorial culture and historical experience of the Arab societies of the Middle East.

Results. The article analyzes the main vectors and trajectories of the use of sports for the politicization and ideologization of historical memory. It is assumed that the Championship stimulated political and ideological contradictions between Arab experts on the issues of collective historical and political experience, as well as its reflection in memorial cultures. The author believes that Arab analysts formally used sports events to update the political, social and economic problems and contradictions of the Middle East through the prism of historical memory, visualizing the trauma of the colonial and orientalist heritage.

Conclusions. It is shown that the Championship actualized political contradictions in the perception of current historical experience, visualizing the lines of ideological demarcation between Arab intellectuals who actively used sports as an information occasion for discussing the problems of historical politics and the politics of collective memory, including the perception of the place and role of authoritarianism, democracy and human rights in contemporary memorial cultures. The author believes that the reaction of the elites to the attempts of the liberal media to turn sport into a space for memorial conflicts and wars of memory was minimal, as the elites were focused on maintaining control and receiving economic dividends from the World Cup. It is shown that the politicization of sports has become the contribution of modern liberal media to the aggravation of wars of memory as a form of memorial conflicts in the Arab world.