Qatar’s sports landscape has undergone a sea change in the last 25 years. From domestic fans watching national leagues in football, volleyball, basketball, handball and tennis etc in the 80s and early part of 90s, Qatar turned things around in the sports industry at a grand scale to make Doha the hub of sports in the world.
The change in sports landscape since the mid-90s wasn’t achieved by chance. Rather, Qatar worked on a meticulous plan by bidding to host the 2006 Asian Games. The bid was won in late 2000 and in the next half a dozen years, the Qatari capital built sporting infrastructure that would serve the country for the next five decades at least.
During this time, Doha continued to host top international events like the Qatar Open ATP Tour event - which was first held in Jan 1993 when German tennis legend Boris Becker won the title. Similarly, Qatar Masters, a European Tour golf event made its debut in 1998 and has been staged every year since then. Andrew Coltart, Paul Lawrie, Adam Scott, Ernie Els, Henrik Stenson, Retief Goosen, Thomas Bjorn and Sergio Garcia are some of the top golfers to win the Qatar Masters title. First the event was staged at the Doha Golf Course but for the last two years, the brand new Education City Golf Course is now playing host to Qatar Masters.
In 2001, after drawing massive crowds to Qatar Open, the Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) put together operations to bring the region’s first women’s WTA Tour event that was eventually won by Swiss star Martina Hingis. Record crowds came in through the turnstile at the iconic Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex when the first edition was staged. Monica Seles, Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova, Justin Henin, Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova are some of the players to have won the tile in Doha. The Qatar Open – sponsored by Total – just completed its 19th edition last week with Kvitova bagging her second trophy in Doha.
Qatar Cycling Federation also got into the act and staged the massively popular Tour of Qatar races - first for men in 2002 and later for women riders in 2006. Belgian star Tom Boonen won the events five times while British rider Mark Cavendish emerged winner on two occasions. In the women’s series, Kirsten Wild was the shining star during races in Qatar winning six Tours. The Tour of Qatar was staged for 15 straight years until the last edition in 2016.
The glamour sports also included the region’s first ever MotoGP battle taking place at Losail International Circuit that was built in record time of nine months. The first race was staged in 2004 and the iconic venue now stages the first MotoGP race every season and that too under lights. WorldSBK events and scores of other two-wheel or four-wheel events take place regularly at the same venue. Among the winners include MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marequez and Andrea Dovizioso.
Track and field also remains at the heart of Qatari sports calendar since 1997 when the first edition of Doha Diamond League was staged. Since then, Qatar has been the proud hosts of the IAAF’s premier series at the start of every season.
In December 2006, Doha put together the best and biggest multi-disciplined sports gathering by hosting the 15th Asian Games. The two-week sporting spectacle saw Doha host more than 10,000 athletes, officials and media folks. Qatar finished 9th on the medals table with an overall tally of 32.
Building on the Asian Games success, Qatar upped the ante and won the rights to host events that world marvels at and the athletes love to feature in. Events like 2008 - Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, 2008 Asian Youth Wrestling Championships, 2008 - Asian Optimist Sailing Championships , 2009 Asian Fencing Championships, 2009 FIVB Club World Championships, 2009 ISF World Gymnasiade, 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2010 ISAF World Junior 470 Sailing Championships , 2011 AFC Asian Cup, 2011 Arab Games, 2012 Asian Shooting Championships, 2014 FINA Short Course World Championships, 2015 IHF Handball World Championships, 2015 Doha 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships, 2015 World Amateur Boxing Championships, 2015 World Robot Olympiad, 2016 UCI Road Cycling World Championships, 2018 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, 2019 IAAF World Championships, 2019 FIFA Club World Cup, and the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup.
The biggest show – the 2022 FIFA World Cup – will be staged next year. It is a month-long event that is expected to draw more than a million fans to what will be the region’s first World Cup edition. After winning the bid in Decemeber 2010, Qatar has built and used four of its World Cup venues – the Khalifa Internatinal Stadium, Al Janoub Stadium, Ahmed Bin Al Stadium and Education City Stadium. Another four stadiums are expected to be completed and made ready for use later this year.
Qatar's hunger for staging sports event will not stop after Qatar 2022 as it has lined up and planning to host many other competitions including the 2023 FINA Swimming World Championships.
Last December, Doha once again bid for the Asian Games and won the rights to host the 2030 edition after an Olympic Council of Asia vote held in Muscat, Oman. Qatar has also bid for the 2027 Asian Cup football tournament.
Recently, Qatar has also reaffirmed commitment to host the Olympics and Paralympic Games in 2032, and by all means the country has potential of delivering spectacular event because of it's rich experience in hosting the top-notch events.
