Doha Officially Launch Campaign for 2020 Olympics by Submitting Bid File

February 14, 2012

The Doha 2020 Bid Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games yesterday delivered its applicant file to the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at Lausanne, sale Switzerland.

The Doha 2020 delegation was led by vice chairman and Qatar Olympic Committee general secretary Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.
The delegation included leading Qatari athletes Olympian shooter Nasser al-Attiyah, doctor swimmer Nada Arkaji, sprinter Noor al-Malki and para athlete Ali al-Mass, Doha 2020 legal director Tariq Falamazi and public relations director Mohamed al-Othman.

Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman said it was a proud moment to be delivering the Doha 2020 applicant file to the IOC headquarters.

“A huge amount of work has gone into its production and I believe its contents are very strong. We look forward to making its contents public soon and continuing to build on our campaign to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games to the Middle East for the first time.”

The Doha 2020 Bid Committee vice chairman explained that the applicant file contained a strong hosting plan based on many existing venues and a number of planned facilities.

“It also outlines an exciting legacy vision focused on building opportunities for Olympic sports in the region and growing participation across the Middle East – especially among girls and women,” he stated.

“2020 is a historic opportunity to grow the Olympic movement in a new region and our applicant file is a crucial step in our ambition to turn this opportunity into reality,” he added.

Al-Mass said that being in Lausanne at IOC headquarters made the Doha 2020 ambition seem even more real.

“If Doha is given the honour to stage the Games, it would give an amazing boost to the profile of paralympic sport across the Middle East and inspire people with disabilities in our region to take up sport,” he added.

The applicant file started its journey to the headquarters of the IOC on Sunday at a “send-off” event at Doha International Airport.

Nada Arkaji, who represented Qatar in swimming at the 2011 Doha Arab Games, said it was a great honour to be travelling to the International Olympic Committee as part of the Doha 2020 delegation at such an exciting time for sports in the Middle East.

“Sport has changed my life and I know that if the Olympic and Paralympic Games were to come here, to a region that has never had the honour of hosting the world’s greatest sporting event, many more young lives across the Arab World would be changed for the better.”

Al-Attiyah, four-time Olympian shooter and international rallying champion, said he had had the great privilege of competing at four Olympic Games and seen first-hand their transformational impact and how they could inspire more young people to participate in sport.

“If Doha were to be given the honour of hosting the 2020 Games, I believe there is a wonderful opportunity to get many more young people across the Middle East playing sport and inspired by Olympic values,” he added.

by Ismail Uddin