Interview - Qatar Olympic Chief on Doha 2017 IAAF World Championships Bid

(ATR) Qatar Olympic Committee secretary general Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani tells Around the Rings that Doha’s bid for the 2017 IAAF World Championships promises a new market for athletics.

"I don’t want to say the Middle East is the future for the sport, but it’s really a new region that’s not been exposed," he said.

"Marketing, sponsorship, a new area for television, a new area that consists of almost 450 million under the age of 30, which speaks to youth and development and how sport is important for this generation – this is how we see it."

Lessons Learned

Al Thani added that the Gulf country's successful 2022 World Cup bid, based around much-hyped cooling technologies, has paved the way for Qatar to secure future mega-events including, he hopes, the track-and-field showpiece.

Asked specifically about the lessons from the FIFA bid for the IAAF bid, he underlined the strategy proposed to combat the desert country's fierce summer heat.

"The main issue is really the cooling technology, which we have introduced before with the 2022 bid," he told ATR.

"We know in October it's definitely different than July and August in Doha, and the weather is nice there... but in case, the cooling technology is there."

Al Thani’s comments to ATR came in Lausanne, Switzerland on the sidelines of an IOC briefing for the six applicant cities for the 2020 Olympics. In addition to the 2017 bid, the Qatari capital is also vying alongside Baku, Istanbul, Madrid, Rome and Tokyo for the 2020 Games after missing out on 2016.

The QOC secretary general, who is also a vice president of Doha 2020 and chair of the 2017 bid, added: "For going to a new region, you have to be flexible in date, and that's what happened with the IAAF."

The track-and-field federation would allow Doha to stage its flagship competition outside of the traditional summer window if awarded hosting rights.

Qatar shocked the world by securing the 2022 football finals last December ahead of frontrunners USA. The bid campaign placed great emphasis on bringing the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time.

Doha’s bid for the 2017 championships is counting upon the IAAF to embrace a similar sense of frontierism and follow in the footsteps of FIFA.

"The main point for us is really going to a new region," Al Thani explained, "to reach to a new market, to developthe sport, to go to a new region which is really in need to develop the athletics."

Doha is competing with London for the rights to host the 2017 world championships, which will follow the Moscow 2013 and Beijing 2015 events. The IAAF Council will make its decision in Monaco next Friday.

All Over but the Waiting

Asked what he could do in this final week of campaigning to sway the decision in his favor, Al Thani said the only actual preparations left deal with the final presentation in Monte Carlo.

"All the other aspects we have considered in the past, we have prepared and we are looking forward to meeting the Council members of the IAAF," he told ATR, adding that Qatar may be new ground for the IAAF showpiece but not necessarily for the 27 voters.

"They are familiar withDoha.They were there last year for the 2010 indoor world championships, they are there almost every year on the Grand Prix, now the Diamond League, so we have a long partnership with them since more than 14 years ago."

Al Thani declined to handicap Doha’s chances in the race for 2017, instead focusing on the past and leaving the future alone.

"I think both bidding cities have the confidence and also the possibility of staging the event," he said.

"For us, we have done all of our homework. We were so happy with the Evaluation Commission when they were in Doha a few weeks ago, and I think we sat with them, we listened to them of any requirement was there, but I think after the Evaluation Commission left, the report that came from them was also great. That’s why I’m saying it’s both of the cities. The bidding files are strong files, and we are just waiting for the [week] to come."

Al Thani’s emphasis on the strength of the two-city field recalls the IAAF deputy secretary general’s recent comments about next Friday’s vote not necessarily being an either/or scenario.

As the federation’s two-day inspection of Doha came to a close last month, Nick Davies said the IAAF Council has awarded multiple championships at one time in the past and reserves the right to do so again.

All signs point to the IAAF being extremely pleased with both Doha and London, leaving next week’s outcome quite up for grabs.

Reported by Mark Bisson and Ed Hula

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