Doha 2017 Bid Chairman Confident of Winning
November 11, 2011
The Chairman of Doha’s 2017 World Athletics Championships bid, discount Sheikh Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, is confident the Qatari capital will see off competition from London to be awarded hosting of the competition.
Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who is also Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee, said:”I think we will make more of the future, make more of working with the IAAF on development. I think that will make the difference.We know that they have a lot of development programmes across all five continents. This could be going to the youth, making athletics tracks in the regions that are in need of them. We leave that to the IAAF. We will cover the prize money from our side and it is up to them how they choose to use it.”
Al-Thani is convinced the Qatari bid had managed overcomes concerns about the heat conditions at the 40,000 capacity Khalifa Stadium in Doha.
He said: “I think that when the evaluation committee were in Doha, they witnessed the first generation cooling system that we developed four or five years ago. Now we are working on the second generation, which will be solar powered. We are offering a solution not only for Qatar but for the region. Some countries face cold weather, some face hot weather. Some countries need heaters in the roof, they are looking for a solution for the cold weather.”
Qatar’s bid forms part of a heavily backed, ambitious development programme based around sport. Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup and has also bid for the 2020 Olympics.
Qatar have offered to provide £5m of prize money for the IAAF, UK Athletics Chairman Ed Warner described £5m the offer as “modest” in comparison with the amount London could generate for the IAAF in sponsorship and commercial ventures.
The IAAF’s decision will be announced later today in Monaco.