IAAF Wraps Up Doha Visit; New Role for Women's World Cup CEO

Doha "Confident" Following IAAF Inspection

IAAF senior vice president Bob Hersh stresses universality as his two-day inspection of Doha’s candidacy for the 2017 athletics world championships comes to a close.

"We’ve never had them in this part of the world," he noted Thursday during a joint press conference with bid chief Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Hersh’s comment, of course, applies only to track and field’s flagship outdoor competition. Doha staged its indoor world championships last year, hence the IAAF senior VP’s familiarity with the Qatari capital.

"This is my sixth trip to Doha, and every time I come back I see growth," he told reporters.

"I’m amazed at the progress, the architecture, the development. This time I saw things I haven’t seen before. It’s just an exciting place to be. It’s a bid that has much merit."

Around the Rings was on the scene in Qatar for the duration of the IAAF delegation’s stay, including visits to proposed host venue Khalifa Stadium as well as Al-Sadd Sports Club.

The latter already employs the same sort of zero-carbon cooling technology Doha touts in its 2022 FIFA World Cup plans as well as its bids for both the 2020 Olympics and 2017 athletics champs.

Hersh, however, downplayed the desert city’s fierce summer heat before listing Seville, Athens and Osaka among past host cities where athletes also dealt with high temperatures and hot sunshine.

"Been there and done that," he said. "It's certainly not a deal breaker.

Doha is proposing Sept. 9 to 17 as the competition dates with endurance events like the marathon to be held after dark pending IAAF approval.

"We are listening. We are confident," said Sheikh Saoud, also secretary general of the Qatar National Olympic Committee.

IAAF Council members will vote Nov. 11 on hosting rights for 2017.

According to one report, however, it’s not necessarily an either/or scenario. IAAF deputy secretary general Nick Davies told Sportcal on Thursday that his federation has awarded multiple championships at one time in the past and reserves the right to do so again.

All signs point to Hersh and company being extremely pleased with both Doha and rival bidder London, where the IAAF delegation started this week’s two-stop inspection tour.

Wide Field for Women’s Match Racing Worlds

The International Sailing Federation tells Around the Rings a total of eight cities are now in the running to stage the 2013 world championship in women’s match racing, an event making its Olympic debut at London 2012.

ISAF competitions manager Antonio González de la Madrid confirmed to ATR on Thursday that Porto Alegre, Brazil and Lake Ledro, Italy as well as U.S. cities Long Beach, Sheboygan and St. Petersburg applied following a deadline extension last month.

Thosefive candidates join original bidders Helsinki, Finland; Auckland, New Zealand andBusan, South Korea in the now eight-strong field.

The women’s match racing worlds date back to 1999 with December’s sailing championships in Perth, Australia to decide the 2011 titleholder as well as the bulk of the field for the 2012 Summer Games.

Women’s World Cup CEO Made UEFA Ambassador

Steffi Jones will parlay her leadership of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup into a role as ambassador for the UEFA women's football development program.

"It will take lots of projects and faces to turn this fantastic World Cup into sustainable benefits for women's football worldwide," said German football president Theo Zwanziger.

Jones, herself a Women’s World Cup winner and two-time Olympic bronze medalist, tallied 111 caps as a defender for theGerman national team between 1993 and 2007.

"Steffi Jones is an ideal figurehead for this," added UEFA president Michel Platini at Wednesday’s unveiling ahead of a UEFA Women's Champions League match in Frankfurt.

As a WFDP ambassador, she will help oversee a program awarding each of UEFA’s 53 member associations more than $130,000 a year earmarked specifically for the development of women’s football. The funding begins in 2012 and runs through 2016.

New Face for Fencing

The International Fencing Federation launches a new websitejust in time for its 2011 world championships.

"There is a special fan zone area with interactive features as well as a section for media that provides latest FIE and international fencing news, athlete’s biographies, rankings and results and all other relevant information," says a Thursday’s statement.

The new site will also feature live streaming of events from next week’s world champs in Catania, Italy featuring almost 1,000 fencers from more than 100 countries and a prize money pool of $570,000.

Meanwhile, the old site remains fully functional but only in an administrative capacity.

Media Watch

Play the Game reports that Turner Field, now home of the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball, tops a list of 75 stadiums erected since 1996 in connection to the Olympics, FIFA World Cup or other major sporting events with regard to annual spectator attendance.

Written by Matthew Grayson.