Almost a decade-and-a-half ago, the State of Qatar devised a strategy to become one of the world’s top sports and cultural hub. Watching the 2019 edition of the IAAF World Athletics Championships makes one acknowledge that Doha is indeed a leading player when it comes to organizing sports events.
When Qatar was awarded the rights to host 2022 World Cup Qatar in a historic FIFA vote nine years ago, it clearly meant that the country achieved what most people thought impossible to host a popular global event for the first time in this region - a region that is stereotyped as a place that can’t host top flight sports event due to its climate, lack of slick infrastructure needed for sports or even because of political uncertainty.
Qatar’s bold ambition in the field of sport did not end there. In no time at all, Qatar began to attract large sports-related multinationals, promote the setup of sustainable businesses and start-ups and facilitate the commercialisation of sports-related products and services in the country.
The successful hosting of top events in athletics, tennis and football including the Asian Games in 2006, and achievements of sports historic victories such as Qatar winning the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the UAE undoubtedly underlines the growing importance of Qatar in the field of sports.
World and Olympic Champion Mutaz Barshim’s high jump victory on Friday at the IAAF World Athletics Championships proves Qatar is fast advancing in sports in world arena, of and off the field.
Barshim’s gold medal was specail because it came in the right place, at the right time and in the presence of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani who attended part of the IAAF World Athletics Championships at the iconic Khalifa International Stadium on Friday.
Barshim’s defence of the high jump title and giving the host nation its first gold medal at the Championship has made the country proud of its inspiring leadership. This win shows that Qatar’s efforts to increase its prominence and effective role in sports and its unlimited ambition to become a hub of sports, education and culture is continuing.
To celebrate these achievements and better support future programmes, Qatar is seeking to be active around the world as a peacemaking state dedicated to the improvement of relations between nations through sports and pushing for a culture of peace around the region.
Qatar is rightly acclaimed as a leading global art, cultural and sporting hub and by the looks of it, it will keep hosting world championships and cultural events.
