Qatar’s heir apparent, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on Saturday led a high-level delegation of Doha 2020 Bid Committee to present its bid to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The President of Qatar Olympic Committee led the presentation to the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in Moscow during which he said a key part of the bid would be to promote sport for women in the Middle East.
Qatar will send female athletes to the Olympics for the first time this year. Air rifle shooter Bahia Al-Hamad will join swimmer Mohammed Wafa Arakji and 100 and 200 metres sprinter Noor Al-Malki in the Qatar team.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Brunei have never before sent women athletes to an Olympics although the Saudis are in discussions with the IOC.
Bid teams from Istanbul, Tokyo, Baku, and Madrid also made 10-minute presentations in front of members representing the 204 national Olympic committees.
All five cities will have to survive an International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote in Quebec at the end of May that will decide on the cities to proceed to the final vote, scheduled to take place in Buenos Aires in September 2013.
Doha fell at this stage in the voting for the 2016 Olympics, which saw Madrid and Tokyo — as well as Chicago — miss out to Rio de Janeiro.
In Saturday’s presentation, Sheikh Tamim said that Doha’s bid to host the Olympic Games aimed “to create sport and business opportunities for the Olympic movement, set up sports programmes and courts that benefit the entire region, support and develop women’s sport in the Arab world”, reported Qatar News Agency.
The heir apparent said Qatar had made “significant investments in the field of sports”.
If Doha wins the right to host the 2020 event, the Olympic Games from October 2-18, and Paralympic Games from November 4-15 to avoid the searing temperatures during the summer months.
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