World Cup host Qatar emerges as threat to our 2032 Olympics bid
Brisbane may have another competitor to host the 2032 Olympic Games, with Qatar keen to stage the global showpiece sometime in the future.
File photo of construction underway at the Lusail Stadium, one of the 2022 World Cup stadiums, in Lusail, Qatar. The gas-rich Persian Gulf has expressed an interest in hosting the world’s biggest sporting events, the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. (Photo: AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
The Gulf Arab state’s Olympic committee said it submitted a request to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to join the phase of “continuous dialogue” about hosting a future Games, possibly in 2032.
Oil-rich Qatar is increasingly keen to host major sporting events, and has already hosted last year’s world athletics championships, though scorching desert temperatures during parts of the year have caused some anxiety in the sports world.
The Olympics have never been hosted in the Middle East, and Qatar is already the first nation in the region to be named as host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
It has invested billions of dollars in preparing for soccer’s most-coveted tournament, but human rights groups have criticised the treatment of migrant workers.
Qatar’s Doha had also unsuccessfully bid for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.
“The IOC … welcomes the interest recently expressed by Qatar, which is the latest country to enter the new dialogue phase,” the International Olympic Committee said in a statement.
There is no deadline for a decision to be made, though usually cities are given at least seven years in advance to prepare for hosting the Games.
Australia is among several other countries to express an interest for the 2032 summer Olympics along with Indonesia, India and Germany, among others.
Brisbane has confirmed its intention to host the Games, with Sydney staging the quadrennial showpiece with great success in 2000 and Melbourne in 1956.
-AAP
