Daily Times

DOHA– The head of world athletics, Sebastian Coe, on Thursday refused to rule out the Summer Olympic Games being held in the desert state of Qatar.

While speaking at a press conference here, Coe said athletics aspired to be part of a global sport. “We have consistently turned up to conferences to talk about globalisation and using sport to impact and imprint on the lives of young people,” he told reporters.

“And we have to make sure where possible giving those countries that want to stage these events to do exactly what we have been, for the last 30 or 40 years, encouraging them to do.”

When asked about the concerns over Doha’s climate – where temperatures can reach 50 degree Celsius in the summer – Coe said that there were other considerations,including commercial concerns and quality infrastructure, to take into account before awarding the host country.

It is pertinent to mention here that this year in February, a senior official of Qatar’s Olympics Committee (QOC) told AFP that his country had a “vision and target” of hosting the Summer Olympics.

QOCSecretary GeneralThani Al-Kuwari said Qatar would undoubtedly bid to host an Olympics and although it had ruled itself out for 2024, the country could bid for the 2028 Olympics games.“The vision and the target are to host one of the Olympics one day.”

Qatar had previous unsuccessful bid for the 2016 and 2020 games.The country has already been chosen to host the World Athletics Championships in 2019, the FIFA World Cup in 2022, and the International Swimming Federation(FINA) championships in 2023.

Since the beginning of 2015, Qatar has also hosted world handball championships and the Paralympics athletics world championships.The Khalifa International Stadium in Doha will be the venue for the 2019 athletics championships.