Qatar officials are reportedly considering a Doha bid for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games after cancelling plans to bid for the 2024 Summer Games.
Thani Al-Kuwari, secretary-general of the Qatar Olympic Committee, said Monday that the country would unquestionably bid on a future tournament.
AFP reports that at a sports conference in Doha Al-Kuwari said, “the vision and the target is to host one of the Olympics, one day.”
“So we are hoping to have one day, you never know, Maybe 2028.”
Qatar applied to bid for both the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games, but both attempts failed to qualify for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) short list primarily because of the scorching summer heat. The IOC requires that the Games be held within a July and August window so that the events do not interfere with international competition schedules, and is more appealing for broadcast television.
Qatar proposed that the Games be held in October instead, and though the IOC approved the exception during the 2020 campaign – the concept was ultimately rejected.
If Qatar had won the Games, Olympic officials had been willing to consider running all outdoor events before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m. to avoid the hottest part of the day.
Al-Kuwari said at the time, “you can say we have finally taken the heat out of the Doha heat issue”.
The country has hosted last year’s Men’s Handball World Championship, the AIBA World Boxing Championships and the International Paralympics Committee Athletics World Championships.
Last month Doha was named the host city for the 2023 FINA World Championships and FINA World Masters Championships. The country hosted the FINA World Swimming Championships in 2013 and 2014.
The 2022 World Cup which Qatar will be hosting, will leave Qatar with stadiums and training facilities that officials hope can be reused during the Olympics.
Al-Kuwari said,”all the facilities are going to be ready for everything, especially after 2022…(and) the logistics for those facilities are completed, so why not”.
Doha’s successful bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup was under instense international scrutiny after there was suspicion of corruption during the campaign. Subsequently, several FIFA members have been charged with various corruption charges surrounding the organization.
The bidding process for the 2028 Olympics is expected to start in 2019.
