Doha 2020 CEO Predicts Low Budget, High Enthusiasm for Olympics Bid

(ATR) The CEO of the Doha 2020 Olympic bid says Qatar is well on its way to being able to offer the infrastructure and public enthusiasm needed to host the Games. It’s the second try for Doha after a run for the 2016 Olympics.

"Today we have a clearer idea of where we are and where we can be," Noora Al-Mannai tells ATR in an interview in Doha.

Al-Mannai began work with the bid three months ago and has assembled a staff of 15 Qataris and another 15 consultants. The team is now working on the dossier that will be submitted to the IOC in February. The team includes Sydney-based MI Associates to work on technical aspects of the bid. Vero from the U.K. and U.S.-based Andrew Craig are helping with strategy and communications.

"I started out by putting together a strong team of young Qataris with strong experience who have the drive and are eager to be part of the team," says Al-Mannai .

"This team is so inspired about the Olympics. Every day we learn more about the Olympics, the Olympic movement. Every day we have new ideas about why the Olympics should come to Qatar".

Al-Mannai is the former chief of Enterprise Qatar, an organization that develops entrepreneurial opportunities in the country. She was recruited for the bid posting by Qatari first lady Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser al Missned who is known as an advocate for the development of Qatari sport, tourism and culture and is one of the vice presidents of the bid. The other vp is Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, secretary general of the Qatar Olympic Committee

Along with Doha, the race for 2020 includes Baku, Istanbul, Madrid, Rome and Tokyo.

"As you can see, Doha is developing dramatically. Day after day we are finding more about what we can offer," says Noora about the process of forming the theme and directionof this second bid for the Games.

Doha did not make the final round for 2016 over concerns about scheduling the Games during the month of October as a way to escape the hot summer months.

Now the IOC has given a tentative okay for October, pending the comments of international federations on the scheduling issue. The IOC Executive Board will decide in May whether these concerns are addressed to allow Doha in the final cut for the 2020 race.

Al-Mannai says that Doha has the chance to offer the IOC a plan for the Games that have a low cost for construction. Most of the venues needed for the Games have been built or are in the planning stages she says.

Since the 1990’s, Qatar has staged a string of sports events ranging from world championships to the Asian Games in 2006 and the Arab Games underway now. And in 2022, Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup, presumably adding more infrastructure needed for an Olympics.

"We will have almost nothing to build," she says.

With a population now of two million, perhaps three million by 2020, Qatar would be the smallest nation to host the Olympic Games in the modern era. But she says the Doha bid will seek to present itself as one that would have a regional impact.

"We know that this bid will not bring as much to Qatar as it will bring to the region," she says. "This bid is not about Qatar but for the whole Middle East".

She says with a population in the Mideast forecast to rise to 750 million, there will be a strong market for tickets and spectators to the Games. Qatar, even if its population grows to three million by 2020, will still be the smallest nation to host the contemporary Olympics.

She says size should not matter.

"This is good for the Olympics I think, for the Games to be hosted in a small country that can deliver a lot," says Al-Mannai.

Written and reported in Doha by Ed Hula

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