Fake News and Football. The Qatar World Cup as a Showcase for Disinformation

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51698/tripodos.2026.60.02

Keywords:

Information disorders, sports communication, football, verification, hate speech

Abstract

Disinformation has increased with the advent of new communication channels and is considered one of the most critical global risks according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024. In sports journalism, particularly in football, the proliferation of fake news about transfers, match-fixing and rumours has spread significantly, generating mistrust.

This study analyses disinformation in the Qatar 2022 World Cup through a content analysis based on the classification of information clutter (Wardle and Derakhshan, 2017).

Denials from verifying agencies such as Newtral, Maldita and Efe Verifica were examined using SPSS for data analysis. The results reveal hoaxes related to the war in Ukraine, respect for human rights in Qatar, and prominent figures such as Messi, Ronaldo and World Cup winners Argentina.

The findings confirm a growing link between disinformation and hate speech, as warned by Blanco-Castilla et al. (2022), and underline the need to sanction those spreading disinformation that fosters hatred and polarisation.

The spread of fake news is a major risk that requires regulatory measures and media literacy programmes to reduce the negative impact on society and sport. Additionally, it is essential to enforce collaboration from platforms such as Twitter, where anonymity enables impunity, to identify perpetrators and protect democracy and citizen security.

_______________________

La desinformación ha aumentado debido a los nuevos canales de comunicación y es considerada de los riesgos globales más graves según el Global Risks Report 2024 del Foro Económico Mundial. En el periodismo deportivo, particularmente en el fútbol, la proliferación de noticias falsas sobre fichajes, amaños y rumores genera desconfianza.

Este estudio analiza la desinformación en el Mundial de Fútbol Catar 2022, con un análisis de contenido basado en la clasificación del desorden de la información (Wardle and Derakhshan, 2017).

Se examinaron los desmentidos de agencias verificadoras como Newtral, Maldita y Efe Verifica, utilizando SPSS para el análisis de los datos. Los resultados revelan bulos relacionados con la guerra en Ucrania, el respeto a los derechos humanos en Catar y figuras como Messi, Ronaldo y Argentina, ganadora del Mundial.

Los resultados confirman una creciente relación entre desinformación y discursos de odio, como alertan Blanco-Castilla et al. (2022), y subrayan la necesidad de sancionar a los autores de la desinformación que fomenten odio y polarización.

La propagación de noticias falsas constituye un riesgo importante que demanda medidas normativas y programas de alfabetización mediática, a fin de reducir el impacto negativo en la sociedad y el deporte. Resulta esencial forzar la colaboración de plataformas como Twitter, donde el anonimato otorga impunidad, para identificar responsables y proteger la democracia y la seguridad ciudadana.

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Author Biographies

María Jesús Fernández Torres, Universidad de Málaga

María Jesús Fernández Torres. Professor in the Faculty of Communication Sciences at the University of Malaga. She was the youngest doctor in Spain. She was a civil servant in Secondary Education. She has more than 50 publications, being the author of five books. Her lines of research focus on sports communication; disinformation and new challenges in communication; political communication; social movements and the third sector. Professor of the Master’s Degree in Strategic Management in Communication and the Inter-University Doctorate Programme in Communication. She directs doctoral theses and master’s thesis. She has been director of courses at the International University of Andalusia and the General Foundation of the University of Malaga. She participates in national and regional research groups in communication and journalism. Reviewer in high impact journals and member of Scientific Committees of Congresses. Awarded the ‘Academic Merit’ prize in her homeland.

Carmen Carretón Ballester, University of Alicante

Carmen Carretón-Ballester. Full professor at the University of Alicante where she teaches Public Relations Planning and Strategy and Digital Communication and leads the research group “Public Relations, Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Responsible and Sustainable Communication with Specialized Audiences and Minorities”. She is part of the Spanish research node of the Evaprop International Network of the University of Costa Rica. Advisor to the Consell de l’Audiovisual de la Comunitat Valenciana, vice-president of the Association of Public Relations Researchers and member of the Board of Directors of the Professional Association of Advertising and Public Relations of the Comunitat Valenciana. She has more than 50 publications indexed in prestigious journals and publishers.

Ana I. Ibáñez Hernández, University of Alicante

Ana Ibáñez-Hernández. PhD from the University of Alicante, a degree in Information Sciences and a Master in Marketing and Digital Communication. She researches from the Department of Communication and Social Psychology at the University of Alicante, on Public Relations, health communication and media literacy. Her professional career, backed by more than 20 years of experience, has been marked by her commitment to the journalistic profession and to Social Responsibility. A task that she has developed from the pages of Health, Education and Society of the ABC Newspaper or from the direction of the Communication Office of the Alicante Red Cross or as a communication advisor in associations and social entities. Collaborator in the European MSCA project ‘visuAAL’ and in the research group ‘Public Relations, Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Responsible and Sustainable Communication with Specialised Audiences and Minorities’, and is part of the research team of the Chair of Generational Digital Divide of the UA and recently in [artefactos] lab, from where she has tried to help to make visible the problems of the most vulnerable groups.Since 2014 she has been a member of the management team of the Association of Journalists of the Province of Alicante, with the position of vice-president.

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Published

16-07-2026

How to Cite

Fernández Torres, M. J., Carretón Ballester, C., & Ibáñez Hernández, A. I. (2026). Fake News and Football. The Qatar World Cup as a Showcase for Disinformation. Tripodos, (60), 02. https://doi.org/10.51698/tripodos.2026.60.02

Issue

No. 60 (2026): Donald Trump's Communication: Challenging Established Boundaries in the Political Arena

Section

Fundamentals

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