The organisers of this year’s World Cup in Qatar, will pay fans to travel to the tournament, in return for positive comments on social media.
This was confirmed by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC).
SC noted the policy of inviting groups of supporters to the finals as guests after reports by NOS.
The report revealed Qatar was paying for flights and hotels for a group of 50 Dutch fans.
In return, these supporters have had to sign a “code of conduct”. It urges them to post favourable comments about the tournament on social media. And to report “any offensive, degrading or abusive comments” by others to the SC, preferably with screenshots.
The broadcaster cited two Dutch fans who said they had been selected by the tournament’s organisers as Fan Leaders. It added that they had been asked to pick 50 loyal supporters for the free trip to Qatar.
“As the tournament nears, we have invited our most active fan leaders to personally nominate a small selection of fans to join us as our guests. As a manner of thanking them for their collaboration,” a spokesperson for the SC told Reuters.
400 fans from 60 countries
On its website, the Qatar World Cup describes its Fan Leaders program as a network of around 400 fans and influencers from 60 countries. They have offered “insights, research, content creation and message amplification” for the tournament.
The organisers did not say how many fans they had invited or provide financial details.
In its code of conduct, the SC asks Fan Leaders to agree to incorporate its content in social media posts. And to support the World Cup by liking and resharing posts by third parties about the tournament.
It also stated that fans are not expected to be a “mouthpiece” for Qatar. But adds it “would obviously not be appropriate to disparage Qatar, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy or the FIFA World Cup.”
Belgian and French media also reported that select groups of fans from those countries were offered a free trip to the World Cup by Qatar.
