This month Doha, Qatar, hosts a major sporting event which will hardly create a ripple in the media beyond the Arab world - yet it is one that provides a significant test of the city’s sporting infrastructure and local event management capabilities.
The 12th Arab Games, which run from December 9-23 and will involve nearly 7,000 athletes from 22 nations taking part in 32 sports, are a significant undertaking for any city as previous hosts Cairo, Algiers and Amman - who each hosted the event in 2007, 2004 and 1999 respectively - will testify to.
“The Arab Games are one of the world’s largest celebrations of sport,” said Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, secretary-general of the Qatar Olympic Committee. “We hope to repay the faith shown by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees (UANOC) by hosting a truly memorable Games in world-class facilities which will help them gain the international standing they deserve.”
Sheikh Saoud’s views echo those of UANOC secretary-general Uthman al-Saad who said that Qatar’s hosting of the Arab Games would give the event “more momentum and significance in light of the huge capabilities and world-class sports facilities which Qatar owns.”
Indeed, the Arab Games represent the side of sport in Qatar which the world at large does not see. It is a year since world football’s governing body FIFA caused uproar in many quarters when its executive committee voted for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup. In the media backlash Qatar was too often portrayed as the new kid on the block, an interloper, a ‘Johnny Come Lately’ with no right to a seat at sport’s top table.
The facts, however, suggest something very different. Qatar is no overnight success as an international sports host. In fact it has spent many years and billions of dollars developing the facilities and expertise which enabled it to launch a successful bid for the World Cup and to have realistic grounds for optimism about landing the 2020 Olympic Games.
This is a host nation that has put in the hard yards, hosting the Asian Games in 2006 and stepping in late in the day to stage the FIFA U-20 World Cup back in 1995 - taking over the role of hosts at barely three weeks’ notice after Nigeria had been considered unable to stage the competition.
In between times the country has staged a wide range of regional and world competitions in all manner of different sports as well as running a series of world-class annual events in tennis, golf and MotoGP among others. Given that record, it is easy to understand why there was some dismay in Qatar at the reaction to its success in landing the Big One - FIFA’s glittering World Cup.
For Hassan al-Thawadi, secretary-general of the Supreme Committee for 2022 which will act as a unifying force and organising committee for the event, it was a reaction which, although entirely negative in its origins, can be seen to have a positive outcome. Speaking at the Aspire4Sport conference in Doha last month he reflected on the experience.
“There is a gap in understanding between the West and the Middle East but we hadn’t really been able to quantify it,” he said. “But if anything this has helped us to understand more about the nature of that gap and increased our resolve that the World Cup should help to narrow it. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be a World Cup for the entire region and we are anticipating up to 800,000 visitors. It will bring together people from many different cultures and will enrich us all.
“We are determined that the fan experience should be culturally rich and fun. To this end there are a lot of projects in the pipeline and great investment in entertainment and leisure and these will help us to ensure that Qatar 2022 will be an experience which will never be forgotten.
“Qatar stands for many things and the World Cup will help people understand that. That includes the country’s standing in terms of transparency and corporate governance.
“We stand above the USA and UK in the world transparency table. In human development we are improving year-on-year, as we are in terms of competitiveness.
“Qatar is an innovative nation focused on achieving goals and delivering legacies. If ever there was a country which showed that nothing is impossible it is Qatar.
“The legacy of the World Cup will be that it will have created a platform to showcase the developments here and accelerate them. Major sporting events can be a great catalyst and for us that will, for example, be seen in the way it helps us develop the private sector of the economy.
“The world should get behind the Qatari World Cup and understand what it can achieve for the world. If you focus on the negatives you will always be able to find something but if you look on every chance as an opportunity you can achieve the big vision.”
For the full article see the latest edition of SportBusiness International published December 1.