Doha has announced its intention to bid for hosting rights to the 2019 World Championships in Athletics, a tournament managed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
The Gulf state will compete against Barcelona and US city Eugene (in Oregon) for the honor, according to the IAAF. In a statement on its website, the sport world’s governing body said this week that it has received letters of intent from these three cities, and would make a final decision on the host in November.
A rigorous evaluation process to arrive at the 2019 host is expected to take place over the next several months.
According to the IAAF, the biennial world championships is the third largest sporting event in the world based on the number of participating nations, teams (more than 200), athletes (over 2,000) and television viewership.
Summer questions
The tournament is typically held in August/September, which may prompt questions about Qatar’s summer heat. The weather has been an ongoing concern for the nation, which is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
That tournament is considered the second largest sporting event in the world. Qatar has also repeatedly bid for the world’s biggest sporting event – the Olympics – but without success. Nonetheless, it has already signaled plans to try again for 2024, as part of efforts to become a sporting destination in the region.
Upcoming hosts of the 2015 and 2017 tournaments are Beijing and London.
Thoughts?
Note: This article has been corrected to reflect that the IAAF tournament involves more than 200 teams, not nations.
So another tournament that will have to be moved to satisfy Qatar’s ego.
surely any sports governing body witnessing the delays and expose surrounding all the world cup issues should be saying “get your house in order , and show you can deliver an event,human rights etc, then we will consider you” ?
Some new special events will be debuted at this event in Qatar
3000m steeplechase. Instead of hurdles, athletes have to avoid being run over by landcrusiers.
Labourers 100m Sprint. The bus leaving for their accommodation will pull away in 12 seconds unless they can get to it. No pay for six months if they miss the bus
Maids Marathon. Just because yanni it’s too far to run. Next year inshallah.
Heh. Nailed it.
Possibly a good idea, but is the country ready to host such events ?
No.
Haven’t you left already?
Another 4 weeks and I will have. I take it that you consider Qatar ready to host such events, then, in August, or September?
Just ignore that guy.
Do you fish? You seem good at trolling?
OK I think the country needs to hold its horses and just stop trying to host major sporting events in the country. Focus on the World Cup, let’s fix our mistakes, let’s move forward, and let’s stop pretending we as locals actually care about sports… Camel racing is an exception
You have made a good point, perhaps inadvertently. Rather than trying to bring in World events which are entirely unrelated to, or reflective of, Qatar’s culture, use the money here to develop interest in the regional passions and pass times, and to develp nascent activities; motorsports, camel and horse racing, falconry, and the like. Build these up so that Qatar is known as a center of regional culture and competition. We read on here about the (oh so terrible…) Westernisation of Qatar, so perhaps the building of a new self belief when it comes to ‘events’ is needed, not the adoption of somebody else’s ideas, but something distinct, Qatari, Arabic, that will have people using terms distinct to Doha instead of the World Cup (Qatar) or the Olympics (Qatar), where the venue is secondary to the event. Bring the location to the fore, and don’t just be the stage, where everyone ‘knows’ the event was bought. Have something yours, something Qatari. If you’re not up to doing that, then accept who you are. Look at Scotland. Do we have the World cup, motogp, the Olympics? No, we don’t, but we have golf, the Edinburgh festival. These things are who we are and what we do. It’s our identity manifest in internationally attended events.
Well said.
You forgot to mention the beautiful castles and the magnificent history… Truly well said. There are more important things than just being in the limelight 24/7, and you’re right, we should make our ancestors proud, and preserve our cultural identity in an increasingly globalised world
Great post. That’s the thing I don’t understand. Everyone knows you can’t host summer events here yet they somehow ( wink wink) bid and get the WC. the Athletics Championships are hosted Aug/Sept. It’s still over 100* (38*C) then and muggy. Qatar forms an Ice Hockey Federation? then joins the International Ice Hockey Federation in 2012. I fully expect them to bid for a Stanley Cup one day. I understand the SC is not hosted in neutral cities but I’ve seen too much else to totally disregard it. It’s may not be fair but Qatar’s in the middle of the desert and makes unrealistic goals of being the sports mecca of the world.