Just the words everyone in Qatar hopes to hear International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge utter in Copenhagen in October 2009, when the IOC announces the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
You see, the vast majority of my readers outside the Arabian Gulf (though I accept the words ‘vast’ and ‘majority’ demonstrate serious delusions about the popularity of this blog) maybe don’t know where the State of Qatar is, let alone that our capital city, Doha, announced last November it was an official Applicant City to host the 2016 Olympics.
The same readers may consider Doha’s chances of success extremely slim, given they are up against more high profile rivals, appealing destinations such as Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Chicago (ok, maybe Chicago isn’t appealing – I’ve been twice so feel qualified to comment). Also in the race when I last checked were Prague and Azerbaijan capital, Baku.
Yes, the idea of Doha becoming the first city in the Arab World to host the Olympics may seem strange to some. But having already proved their ability to handle major sporting events as host of the 2006 Asian Games (answering critics who charged Qatar was unprepared for such an undertaking), the country already has much of the necessary infrastructure in place. Financing the Olympics, the topic of endless debates in London, Athens, Sydney and earlier Olympics host cities, is not an issue in a country currently enjoying an economic boom on the back of controlling 20% of known global natural gas reserves and extensive oil resources.
Add to that a stable political environment, a new airport, 10,000 extra hotel rooms by 2010 and the money to construct and maintain whatever the Olympics needs, and Qatar certainly has the capability to host the Olympics in 2008, never mind 2016.
Next time: Doha 2016 – the hurdles
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