The Qatari capital yesterday confirmed that it will join the race to bid for the 2020 Olympic Games following a positive gesture from the International Olympic Committee (QOC) to stage the world’s largest multi-sport event in autumn. Doha now joins bids from Rome, Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul.
If Doha wins the 2020 Games bid, the Olympics would take place in September and October instead of IOC’s favoured months of July and August, a time when Middle East experiences soaring temperatures.
The Heir Apparent H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani welcomed the IOC decision which gives Doha the flexibility to stage the Games in September/October.
“In light of the decision of President Rogge and the IOC Executive Board, I am delighted to formally announce Doha’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020,” Sheikh Tamim, who is also the president of Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), said in a statement yesterday.
“I wish to personally thank Jacques Rogge and the IOC for guiding us through and supporting the QOC in entering the bidding race without the disadvantage of dates.
“I look forward to working closely with the IOC and the wider Olympic family hopefully all the way through to the IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September 2013 for what could be an historic moment for the Olympic Movement and the Middle East.”
Doha previously bid for the 2016 Olympics, but lost out in the initial round of voting.
Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the secretary-general of QOC, said Doha would give a better account second time around.
The deadline for submitting bids is September 1 and the IOC will decide in September 2013 in Buenos Aires who will host the 2020 Games.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/162821-doha-joins-2020-olympic-race.html
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