The Hindu : Sport : Qatar’s Olympic drive

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Saturday, Oct 27, 2007
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Qatar’s Olympic drive

DOHA: This tiny, oil-rich Persian Gulf state launched its quest on Thursday to bring the world to its booming capital for the 2016 Summer Olympics, hoping to become the first Arab country to host the Games.

Flush with billions from oil and gas sales, Qatar hopes to build on its success as host of the 2006 Asian Games to attract the quadrennial sporting event and promote understanding between the Middle East and the rest of the world.

“We hope to bring people into a city where they can get along,” said Hasan Ali bin Ali, Chairman of the Doha 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Bid Committee. “We also hope people will come to Qatar and see a different Arab world than what they perceive it to be.”

Prosperous

The Middle East is often associated with conflict and instability, but Qatar hopes to open the world’s eyes to the booming prosperity and economic growth of the region’s wealthy Gulf countries.

With a population of only 300,000 and substantial oil and gas reserves, Qatar has one of the highest per capita income rates in the world. The country competes for international investment and attention with its similarly resource-rich neighbours — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Qatar faces stiff competition from the six other cities competing to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, including Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Prague, and Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

“It’s a huge job to promote a bid internationally,” said Mike Lee, an advisor for Doha’s 2016 bid and veteran of London’s successful bid for the Summer Olympics in 2012.

Qatar believes its success while hosting athletes from over 30 countries during last year’s Asian Games has prepared it for the epic task of tackling the Olympics.

“We are ready for the Olympics,” said Hillal al-Khawari, the project director of Aspire Zone, a two million square metre sports compound that held almost half of the Asia Games events, up to 10 simultaneously.

Building on it

Al-Khawari said Doha plans to use the infrastructure from the Asia Games for many of the Olympic events and will build new complexes to host both the athletes and the media.

“We hope that the experience of 2006 will make the experience we anticipate to have in 2016 a bigger success,” al-Khawari said.

Although sports are an important part of the Qatari culture, the level of international attention and exposure from the Olympics would be new for the country. Many citizens remain suspicious of foreigners and don’t often mix with expatriates.

“The committee deciding the Olympic host will not look at our pocket, but our ability to organise and manage a big event,” said Sheik Hamid al-Attiyah, Qatar’s deputy prime minister and minister of gas. — AP

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