Metaphoric Gestures in Professional Football: A Conceptual Metaphor Theory Analysis of the 2022 FIFA World Cup

Abstract

This qualitative study examines metaphoric gestures performed by professional footballers and event participants during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, analyzed through Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA). Drawing on photographic documentation as primary data, the study systematically investigates ten discrete gestural events, each demonstrating identifiable source-target mappings: the opening ceremony handshake between Morgan Freeman and Qatari youth ambassador Ghanim Al-Muftah (UNITY IS BRIDGING PHYSICAL DISTANCE), the Iranian team's silent anthem protest (SILENCE IS RESISTANCE), the German team's collective hand-to-mouth gesture (COVERING IS SUPPRESSION), the Japanese coach's bow (LOWERING IS RESPECT), the Moroccan team's collective prostration (LOWERING IS GRATITUDE), Lionel Messi's ear-cupping (HEARING IS CONFRONTATION), Emiliano Martinez's trophy gesture (PHYSICAL VULGARITY IS DOMINANCE), Cristiano Ronaldo's silencing gesture (SILENCING IS CONTROL), Ismaila Sarr's eye-covering gesture (COVERING EYES IS WILLFUL IGNORANCE), and the bisht-draping ceremony (CULTURAL ADORNMENT IS INSTITUTIONAL LEGITIMIZATION). Analysis reveals that these gestures operate systematically within four conceptual categories: vertical orientation, silence and sound, visual attention, and position or power mapping. The findings emphasize embodied cognition's critical role in high-stakes sports contexts, demonstrating how athletes and event participants strategically deploy physical movements to communicate cultural identity, political resistance, institutional critique, spiritual acknowledgment, and transnational advocacy. This study advances theoretical understanding of gesture-based visual communication in professional sports and contributes to scholarship at the intersection of CMT, multimodality, and embodied metaphor.