DOHA
\nAfter the FIFA World Cup 2022 earned Qatar both plaudits and censure, the energy-rich Gulf state is now starting a marathon to secure the 2036 Olympics and a place as a pillar of world sport.
\nEven as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo scored goals and shed tears in Qatar\u2019s multi-billion-dollar stadiums, its sports administrators were booking new victories off the pitch.
\nDuring the tournament, Qatar was awarded the 2025 world table tennis championships and the opening race of the world endurance championship in 2024, adding to its packed sports calendar.
\nFormula One returns in 2023, and a major renovation of Qatar\u2019s race track went ahead during the World Cup shutdown.
\nQatar also stepped in when China withdrew from holding the 2023 Asian Cup football and is to stage the world swimming championships in 2024.
\nIts beIn Sports channel with its growing viewership and rights portfolio only adds to Qatar\u2019s sports muscle.
\nHosting events is \u201ca very powerful game-changing tool\u201d, said Michael Payne, a former head of marketing for the International Olympic committee.
\nQatar is ploughing ahead with its sporting ambitions despite criticism of its rights record \u2013 particularly the treatment of foreign workers who built the stadiums and power the economy of one of the world\u2019s richest countries.
\nFIFA president Gianni Infantino repeatedly said Qatar was hosting the \u201cbest ever\u201d World Cup, and other federations have also welcomed Qatar\u2019s largesse.
\nAn official with the International Table Tennis Federation said \u201cQatar stepped in to help organise events when Covid devastated the calendar, and its facilities are all in place\u201d.
\nQatar won an overwhelming majority in the ITTF vote against Spain for the 2025 championships.
\nThe 2036 Olympics (which will not be awarded before 2025) is the next big prize. The emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, is an IOC member and Qatar has already bid for the 2016, 2020 and 2032 Games.
\nSome analysts say its World Cup record will count against Qatar in the Olympic bid.
\nChanging the date of the opening match three months from the start of the World Cup and banning beer around stadiums two days from the start were \u201cerrors\u201d, said Jean-Loup Chappelet, an Olympic movement specialist at the University of Lausanne.
\n\u201cThe International Olympic Committee wanted none of it (for 2032) and I think that after the World Cup it will be exactly the same,\u201d added Chappelet.
\nVeteran marketing specialist Payne also said Qatar and FIFA had scored \u201cown goals\u201d, but added that these had been quickly forgotten.
\nThe IOC has a declared policy of rotating the Games, and the Olympics have never been held in the Middle East.
\nBut the scorching summer temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) mean the IOC would have to switch the Games to the winter months.
\nQatar could face competition from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, which has previously bid five times.
\nThe Saudis were part of a Gulf blockade of Qatar from 2017 to 2021.
\nTies have since been restored, and Qatar has highlighted the Arab fervour shown at the World Cup to claim its success.
\nThe Saudis pulled off a shock win over Argentina, and Morocco reached the semi-finals.
\n\u201cIt remains to see how long the Arab unity and revitalisation of the FIFA World Cup 2022 will last after the final whistle,\u201d said Danyel Reiche, an associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar who is leading a World Cup project.
\nReiche said sport should become \u201ca tool for peace-building\u201d.
\nQatar and Saudi Arabia should launch a joint Olympic bid, copying the co-hosting of the next World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada and other big events, Reiche said.
\n\u201cCo-hosting sporting events with other Middle East countries would add to Qatar\u2019s image of being a good global citizen that has, for example, mediated in major conflicts,\u201d said Reiche.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DOHA After the FIFA World Cup 2022 earned Qatar both plaudits and censure, the energy-rich Gulf state is now starting a marathon to secure the 2036 Olympics and a place as a pillar of world sport. Even as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo scored goals and shed tears in Qatar\u2019s multi-billion-dollar stadiums, its sports administrators […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302451,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-302412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n