Politicization of a Contested Mega Event: The 2018 FIFA World Cup on Twitter

Previous research has shown that governments have often used mega sport events to convey a positive image of their nation to a global audience, whereas Western-based non-governmental organizations use these events to criticize social ills in the host countries. Research presented here asks to what extent attempts at politicization have prevailed with regard to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The question is addressed with a quantitative content analysis of English Twitter messages (N = 14,366,447) surrounding the Russian World Cup. The analysis points to several attempts to politicize the event, however with limited resonance. Among political tweets, those that criticize the suppression of homosexuals in Russia gained most but only short-lived attention. Sentiment analyses further indicate that negative messages declined in the course of the World Cup; hence, the event might have distracted audiences from political issues and created a "feel-good effect." The 2018 World Cup appeared as a "normal" mega sport event on Twitter.