“I Feel Qatari Today […] I Feel Disabled Today, […] I Feel Like a Migrant Worker Today…”: On Sport, Leadership, and Moral Legitimacy

This study examines the public’s perceptions of a speech delivered by FIFA’s president in a press conference one day before the Qatar 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup. In total, 34,714 publicly available user responses were collected from news media YouTube channels in North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as from Twitter hashtags related to the press conference. This user-generated content was analyzed using sentiment analysis to determine the degree of positivity or negativity, followed by qualitative thematic analysis to identify specific factors influencing public perceptions of Infantino’s speech, including both positive and negative aspects. The results suggested that FIFA’s communication was “debated” due to questions and challenges posed by the public. It is noted, however, that the magnitude of negative and positive evaluations varied according to the medium used and the region. Negative evaluations related to ‘hypocrisy’, ‘lack of transparency’, and ‘diplomatic hedging’, whereas positive evaluations related to ‘symbolic communication’, ‘activist governance’, and ‘cultural appropriateness’. Using the public as a resource for institutional evaluation, this research contributes to the scholarship of sport management by analyzing the impact of communication on an organization’s moral legitimacy.