Qatar's Iconic Gesture: How Messi's Cloak Exposed Western Hypocrisy and Its Double Standards

In a moment that caught the eye at the World Cup crowning ceremony, and reflected cultural coexistence and the message of football, the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad, gave the Argentine star Lionel Messi the Qatari bisht, helped him wear it; then the Qatari Emir and FIFA President Gianni Infantino handed Messi the World Cup.

Argentina was crowned World Cup after defeating France on penalties (4-2) in an exciting final, which ended with three goals for each team during the original and extra time.

However, the Western media, which did not miss any opportunity to criticize Qatar for hosting the 2022 World Cup, did not like what happened and launched a new campaign against Qatar and FIFA under the pretext of forcing Messi to wear the Arab cloak, which revealed unparalleled hypocrisy and double standards in dealing with events throughout history.

Despite the harsh Western criticism, others sought to define the Arab dress and clarify its importance and significance, while some said that the anger directed at the Gulf dress stems from racism and hatred of Arabs and Muslims.

Tweeters reacted to Messi’s wearing of the bisht under several hashtags, most notably: #Bisht, #Messi, #FIFAWorldCup, and #Qatar.

 

Dramatic Western Focus

In the first Western reactions to protest the idea of Messi wearing the Qatari bisht during the World Cup ceremony, some of them accused Qatar of stealing the historic moment from the Argentine national team.

Some even described the bisht as a tool of the State of Qatar to divert attention from the human rights record inside the country, according to their allegations.

In this regard, the Guardian newspaper commented on the incident by saying: “The images of Messi wearing a black cloak were a moment to recover Qatar’s $220 billion investment.”

The Telegraph newspaper described what happened as a strange act that broke the greatest moment in the history of the World Cup.

As for the Daily Mail newspaper, it said that the hosts of the World Cup in Qatar had forced Messi to cover his famous No. 10 shirt with an Arab cloak before celebrating the World Cup title.

In turn, the Sports Manor newspaper also commented, saying: “A way to sabotage a distinctive image. Lionel Messi’s mysterious black cloak after winning the World Cup steals the limelight.”

On French BFM TV, critics reacted with horror to Messi’s wearing of the bisht. They mocked it and called it a dried domestic rag and a bathrobe, according to researcher Rim-Sarah Alouane’s tweet.

While another section claimed that Messi’s wearing of the bisht is the last episode of the sports washing policy adopted by Doha throughout the World Cup, as the Australian critic of FIFA several years ago, Bonita Mersiades, tweeted.

Some believe that the gift of the Qatari bisht to Messi was not at the right time since lifting the cup was the most important moment in Messi’s history.

Sports journalist John Duggan opined that “it was not appropriate for Qatar to bestow its gift at a time when Lionel Messi was going to lift the World Cup.”

“Longest time ever waiting for the trophy to be lifted and they did everything they could to spoil it. Why are you covering up Messi’s shirt with that?” Liverpool Football Club correspondent James Pearce wrote on Twitter.

On his part, Laurie Whitwell, a journalist for the Athletic sports news, said that the bisht “made for an weird, unnecessary look amid a sea of blue + white sporting shirts.”

Mark Benstead, the Premier League correspondent for Sky Sports, called Messi’s cloak the biggest travesty since the time Halifax’s Howard handed out the SPL trophy to Rangers,” in an abhorrent racist reference.

In turn, Will Martin, business news editor at Insider, claimed that what happened sums up everything that has gone wrong since Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup.

 

Arab Hospitality

In the same context, a number of other foreign media outlets sought to define the Arab cloak that Messi wore before the World Cup was lifted in order to clarify its importance and true significance.

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper stated that “Messi merits exceptional treatment, whether through his fans bowing before him in prayer or the most powerful man in Qatar trussing him up in a bisht.”

The Indian Times Now News website wrote that “the bisht is a traditional Arab dress worn by men on special occasions such as weddings, graduation ceremonies, or religious ceremonies.”

“While some claimed that Qatar tried to steal Messi’s long-awaited moment to win the World Cup, Qatari officials considered this gesture as a tribute to the sports star,” the website added.

Many social media users interpreted the controversial shot as part of honoring the guest, which is an ancient Bedouin custom whereby (bisht) is given to an important person as a gesture of appreciation and honor and to highlight the importance of this person.

Tweeters also saw that the idea was smart and great on the part of Qatar, which took advantage of the most important image in the history of the Argentine legend and linked it to Arab culture, pointing out that this shot came as a closing ceremony for an exceptional World Cup on Arab soil, and it is a response to the continuous Western criticism of Qatar’s organization of the World Cup.

There are those who believe that Qatar has the right to promote and celebrate its culture, especially since the World Cup final was held on Qatar’s National Day (December 18).

Even Western journalists agreed with this point of view; Zach Lowy, a sports journalist, wrote: “I’m probably in the minority here but I thought Messi wearing a bisht was a nice touch.”

“Bishts are given to Arab warriors after a victory in battle or to royalty… Messi just won the greatest battle of them all and confirmed himself as the king of football. This isn’t sportswashing, it’s simply appreciating a different culture,” he added on Twitter.

“Sheikh Messi. This is brilliant. Traditional thobe being worn during the biggest moment in sports history. Qatar I love you. What a moment. Let the world celebrate the culture,” International athlete Tam Khan tweeted.

On her part, the blogger Dr. Sara Marzouk shared a post on Facebook about the meaning of wearing the bisht among the Arabs, saying: “This garment is considered a symbol of great honor. It’s a status symbol amongst royalty, the wealthy and those with high social rank. It has nothing to do with religion at all.”

A fan who responded to James Pearce’s tweet also noted that “the dress was part of Qatari tradition,  they wear it when they graduate, get married, win a trophy and so on, adding: “They wanted to honor him with it and it wasn’t supposed to be worn for long it’s usually a minute or two.”

Another fan wrote that this bisht makes Messi look like a real emperor.

 

Western Hypocrisy

On the other hand, other tweeters saw that the criticism of the Gulf dress worn by Messi revealed Western double standards towards Arabs.

The journalist and researcher Robert Carter criticized the BBC’s coverage of this World Cup, pointing out that “if Messi had worn the gay propaganda badge, Gary Lineker and the rest of the journalists would have praised him. But his wearing of the Arab Bisht raised all these negative criticisms.”

Another fan tweeted from the same point of view, saying: “Respect Qatar’s culture.”

In turn, the American activist of Lebanese origin, Moe Safa, tweeted, saying: “Everyone is complaining about how Messi wore the Qatari bisht, but he doesn’t seem bothered. The truth is Europeans just can’t fathom the fact that an Arab country just hosted probably the best world cup.”

Another tweeter also pointed out that the West’s reaction to Messi’s bisht shows the real reason behind their attitude towards veiled women, explaining that they cannot bear to see a different culture being celebrated while their values are being opposed.

Palestinian professor Abdallah Marouf explained on Twitter that “culturally, Messi was highly respected by the Emir of Qatar dressing him the Bisht,” stressing that “ignorant Western media shall learn about cultures instead of whining as usual.”

In the face of all this controversy, some observers indicated that it was not the first time that such a gesture had taken place. In 1970, Brazilian legend Pele was crowned the World Cup in Mexico, and at that time he wore the famous Mexican hat, which the media considered at the time a cultural coexistence and an achievement of the football message.

Regarding this, Mehdi Hasan, MSNBC host, tweeted: “Can we stop with the racist, orientalist, anti-Arab behavior please? Also, a sombrero was put on Pele’s head at the 1970 Mexico World Cup final.”

As journalist Haleema Khalid said in a tweet: “After human rights, LGBTQ, alcohol, labor rights, Western hypocrisy takes a new turn as Qatari Emir draped Messi in bisht. In the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, Brazil’s Pele also wore a Mexican Sombrero.”

On her part, Professor Amro Ali indicated in a tweet that “in the Athens Olympics, olive wreaths were placed on the heads of the gold medalists. So why all the troubles about Messi and the Qatari Bisht?”

In an article for Middle East Eye, British journalist Peter Oborne wrote: “The BBC, and in particular Lineker, the notoriously bigoted French media, and much of the British press owe a giant apology to Qatar. It’s time they acknowledged they got it wrong.”