Sportswashing is a new term that recently has been increasingly used in the media. It is often mentioned in connection with the Middle East, Russia or China. Previous studies on the subject are limited due to its recent definition. To further point out its growing recognition outside media, the term sportswashing was first included in the 2018 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (Skey 2022). This study aims to explore the concept of sportswashing, its cognate terms, and how it is used in the media, through a qualitative exploratory study regarding the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. The study is based on 12 news articles which are analysed with theories of sportswashing and its cognate concepts through a narrative approach. Since the previous literature is limited, the study further aims to explore how the term is used and thus contribute with knowledge in this field. The findings are that the media used the term sportswashing excessively even if other cognate concepts would fit some of the descriptions the media used. The authors found it important to work further on a consistent definition as well as the theory related to sportswashing, to ensure a unitary to the use both in the theory and even more so in the media.