The qatar blockage

The countries insisted that Qatar had violated an agreement made in 2014 with other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. While Qatar acknowledged that it has given assistance to such Islamic groups as the Muslim Brotherhood, it denies providing assistance to any militant groups that are linked to the Islamic State or the al-Qaeda (Ulrichsen 12). In addition, Qatar claims that it has aided the United States in the ongoing military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and in the war on terror in general. While the main focus with regard to the blockade would probably be the effects on the Qatari economy as well as the security status of the country, the reality is that the blockade has affected other equally important sectors of the country such as sports in the international level.

Introduction One of the most important features that shape the content churned out by the various media avenues is the audience. The ongoing Qatar blockade stood in the way of the success of the match. This is, first of all, because the air, land and sea blockade imposed on Qatar means that the jet flying the Qatari soccer team could not fly directly into the United Arab Emirates and had to go through Kuwait thereby taking longer. This may have caused the players anxiety. In addition, the blockade meant that fans of the Qatari football team would not be able to attend the games and support the team seeing as showing sympathy or support for Qatar is punishable and could attract a jail term of up to fifteen years.

This not only means that such fans cannot travel into the country for the matches but also that even Qatari citizens who reside in the UAE cannot attend the matches to support their national team. In the article, the author begins by explaining to the audience how busy the Sharjah, Dubai, Al Ain, and Abu Dhabi cities of the UAE have been with the hosting of the 51 matches and 24 teams taking part in the AFC Asian Cup (Kumar n. p. The author then goes into details of the AFC Asian Cup. The success of the matches and the positive impression on UAE as a good host with great hospitality and top quality training grounds and facilities is an important aspect of this article.

Features of the matches such as the first ever use of the Video Assistant Referee and strong online presence of the fans on the tournaments digital platforms are also highlighted. The article starts off by highlighting the impressive 4-0 win by Qatar against the UAE as well as the ensuing celebrations by supporters of the team including Qataris and expatriates. The authors are keen to highlight the difficult circumstances that the team endured to win the match (Gulf Times n. p. The host country is portrayed as being hostile to the Qatari team as seen in their disgraceful conduct including shoes and bottle-throwing at Qatari players and booing of the Qatari national anthem by the UAE fans before the match. The article then goes into details of the match and looks into the stats of the game citing the impressive performance of the Qatari team in spite of the unfavorable conditions prevalent during the match and which could have affected the performance of the team, yet the team was able to rise above them and emerge victorious (Gulf Times n.

Details on the specific players, their backgrounds and roles played in the Qatari football team, and the match in question are also highlighted. The author then makes reference to the ongoing gulf dispute citing it as going beyond soccer (Panja n. p. A brief insight into the Qatar blockade is then given, and ways in which the crisis has manifested during the tournament highlighted. The article also acknowledges the improvement shown by Qatar in football in the recent past and looks into the efforts being made by the country with regard to its hosting the 2022 World Cup. In its February 2, 2019 article titled: “Unlucky Japan lose AFC Asian Cup Final,” Khaleej Times; a UAE-based English newspaper gave a recollection of the Qatar vs.

Japan AFC Asian Cup finals match (Kumar n. p. The primary and secondary audiences of the article seemed to be supporters of Japan in the match as well as countries and individuals in support of the ongoing Qatar blockade and as such, the article focused on the efforts made by Japan as well as the unfortunate loss to Qatar while also portraying the win by Qatar as undeserved and merely out of luck and not merit. The author begins by acknowledging Japan as 4-time champions in the AFC Asian Cup before mentioning the 3-1 loss to Qatar (Kumar n. ” The primary and secondary audiences of the article comprise of Qatar citizens, supporters of the Qatar national football team and sympathizers of Qatar with regard to the ongoing blockade.

As such, the article is an expression of the joy that was felt with the win as well as the significance of this win with regard to the Qatar blockade. The tertiary audience of this article includes supporters of the Qatar blockade and is an indirect message that Qatar will rise again from the challenges imposed by the blockade (Varghese n. p. From the article, it is clear that the Qatari team fans were following the match from screening venues within the country which sheds light on the Qatar blockade which stood in the way of the Qatari nationals flying to the UAE to watch the match (Varghese n. p. The article also gave a description of the match before delving into details on the challenges that the team had to overcome to win the cup.

The ongoing blockade and its consequences on the ability of the Qatari team, officials, and fans to get to the tournament in good time. The article also mentions the inquiry into the allegations leveled by the UAE pertaining to the ineligibility of two players from the Qatari team clarifying that the team was cleared just several hours before the finals (Panja n. p. https://m. gulf-times. com/story/620652/Qatar-erupts-in-joy-after-humbling-arrogant-UAE Accessed February 28, 2019. Kumar, A. UAE raises the Bar with Hosting of Asian Cup. Panja, T. Qatar beats Japan to Win Asian Cup. The New York Times, February 1, 2019a. https://www. nytimes. C. Lessons and Legacies of the Blockade of Qatar.  Insight Turkey 20. Varghese, J. Euphoria grips the Country as Qatar wins Asian Cup.