Intercultural communication in a globalized world ceases to be a simple social activity and becomes a challenge and, at the same time, a responsibility. The impact of sport in general in modern societies is the most relevant qualitative cultural phenomenon that demonstrates the maturity of a society and the strength of its economy, and when we talk about soccer we are aware that it is a global language par excellence.
Every four years we live a multifaceted experience with each World Cup, culture clashes, opinions, entertainment and social practices. The Soccer World Cup is full of tensions, and when it comes to the first one in the Middle East, the tension rises to the maximum! Right there comes the most attractive challenge for a communication specialist: How to live and make live the unique experience of the joints that the name of Qatar generates around the ball?
The interesting thing about the media activity in a World Cup is the expansion it has; You don't need to go to one to live the cultural exchange, just sit in front of your television or check the social networks and everything will come to you. It is interesting but complex at the same time. The challenge becomes impossible to control because the transmission channels for a World Cup are infinite, and in many of them the purity of the information cannot be absolutely guaranteed.
It has been clear to me from the beginning that being in the communication sphere of a World Cup is an extremely difficult task. First of all, how can I show that globalization has a positive side, being an opportunity to get to know other cultures, appreciate one's own culture and experience the first World Cup in the Islamic world from Mexico.
On the other hand, it is vital to establish immovable foundations to ensure that the challenge reaches a good result: the first is to respect both cultures, the Qatari and the Mexican, and their differences; the second is to find the correct language to communicate with the audience, a language far from hate speech and favoritism, nor a sentimental speech that only seeks to show that everything will be fine. A perfectly realistic language.
In this same context, it is obvious that the foreigner notices, to different degrees, various cultural values foreign to his own and, in some cases, can cause cultural conflicts within himself in the form of clashes or misunderstandings, affecting their professional and emotional development in the country and the way in which they penetrate into society. Said clashes in a World Cup are more intense, taking into account the mix between so many nations in such a short period of time.
Cultural conflicts question ways of life in societies and are aimed at achieving new ways of coexistence and social interaction between cultures. Therefore, it is very important that within the communication work we seek to generate certain skills in the audience to avoid prejudices, and so that a foreigner can not only cope with cultural differences, but also enjoy them and get to know them thoroughly.
Without a doubt, misinformation is a media “cancer”. Diverting information and replacing it with wrong information was something we faced a lot during the four years leading up to this World Cup. Disinformation can cause emotional, social and even economic damage, allowing fraud and leaving victims like every sports tournament of this magnitude.
Let's do this exercise: If we want to analyze the culture of death in Mexico, we discover in a very intimate way that for the Mexican death has to have a meaning, if death lacks meaning then life is the same. According to Octavio Paz, if the word "death" is not pronounced in other cultures around the world because of its bad vibes, the Mexican frequents it, mocks it, caresses it and sleeps with it.
According to the previous example, with this same mentality you have to go to Qatar, thinking that any cultural manifestation has a very deep “meaning” for the locals, that as foreigners we will have to respect it, and it would be great to look for that meaning, to live it , hug it and enjoy it.
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