Qatar set to bid for 2017 World Athletics Championship

 

The Gulf state won the rights to host the 2022 World Cup in December, news greeted with nationwide celebrations.

Qatar said on 16 March that it will bid to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships.

Qatar's Olympic committee have announced a bid by Doha for the event which will rival the bid made by UK Athletics (UKA) for the Olympic Stadium in London.

No other city has yet declared, although both Rome and Istanbul are known to be considering a bid, the UK's Sporting Life reported.

The Qatar bid follows the successful attempt to become the first Middle East country to host football's 2022 World Cup.

Qatar is also planning talks with the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) over possibly staging the event in the autumn to avoid the extreme summer temperatures, the UK sports website added.

Their bid will see the championships based in the Khalifa stadium which by that time have air-cooling systems in place, it said.

A statement from the Qatar Olympic Committee said: "The main platform of the bid is to promote the sport around the world and help the IAAF develop athletics in new regions including the Gulf region, the Middle East and into central Asia."

Doha hosted the world indoor championships last year and the Asian Games in 2006.

Formal bids must be submitted to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) by September 1 with the winners to be announced in Monaco in November.

Beijing will host the 2015 championships after ending up as sole bidder after London withdrew due to uncertainty, now resolved, over the future use of the 2012 Olympic stadium.