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Qatar banks on infrastructure for Olympic bid

28 August 2025

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> Olympics bid aims to extend tourism gains

 

Qatar officially launched its bid to host the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games in July 2025. It is the latest step in a decades-long national strategy that uses global events to build international influence, accelerate economic diversification and stimulate the projects market. 

If Doha’s bid is successful, it will become the first city in the Middle East and North Africa to host the games, reinforcing its position as a global hub for major sporting events. 

Unlike Qatar’s previous bids, this bid is not centred on an ambitious building programme. Instead, it is focused on demonstrating how the legacy of the 2022 Fifa World Cup and other major competitions can be leveraged to host future events.

Sports diplomacy

Qatar’s strategy of positioning itself as an international sporting hub began long before the World Cup. The first global test came in December 2006, when Doha staged the 15th Asian Games, which, at the time, was the largest multi-sport event ever held in the region. 

More than 8,000 athletes competed across 39 sports over two weeks, while the opening ceremony attracted an estimated global television audience of 1.5 billion viewers. Qatar invested approximately $2.8bn in staging the competition. 

That experience not only put Doha on the map, but also left behind key infrastructure that underpinned its bids for subsequent events.

Using the infrastructure built for the Asian Games, Qatar launched a $48m bid in 2007 to stage the 2016 Summer Olympics. At the time, organisers proposed an Olympic Village costing nearly $2bn, designed to host 18,000 athletes, and emphasised that 70% of the necessary venues already existed thanks to the Asian Games. 

Despite gaining more International Olympic Committee (IOC) votes than Rio de Janeiro in the preliminary round, and ranking joint third with Chicago on technical merit, Doha did not make the final shortlist. 

In June 2008, the IOC selected Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo as candidate cities, while Doha, Baku and Prague fell short of the candidature phase. 

This may have been a setback for Qatar, but it was also a valuable lesson that would shape its long-term approach to sports diplomacy.

Qatar’s Olympic Committee says that 95% of the necessary infrastructure for 2036 is already in place

World Cup legacy

Since then, Doha has hosted an array of major international sporting events. The largest was the Fifa World Cup 2022, the first ever staged in the Arab world. The tournament required billions of dollars of investment in stadiums, transport networks, hotels and urban infrastructure, which is widely regarded as the largest project spend in the history of global sport. 

Eight purpose-built and upgraded stadiums formed the backbone of the football tournament, supported by the new Doha Metro and extensive road and airport expansions along with many other associated facilities, including hotels and retail centres.

The World Cup not only demonstrated Qatar’s ability to deliver a logistically complex global tournament, but also left behind a more world-class infrastructure that now forms the cornerstone of its 2036 Olympic bid.


Qatar intends to build on the legacy of the Fifa World Cup 2022 with its Olympic bid

Other major sporting events have also reinforced Doha’s credentials. The 2019 World Athletics Championships were held at the renovated Khalifa International Stadium, attracting 1,772 athletes from 206 teams across 49 events. 

The stadium, scaled to 21,000 available seats, and the Doha Corniche, which hosted marathon and racewalking events, demonstrated the city’s ability to manage large and logistically complex competitions. 

The 2024 World Aquatics Championships further underscored this capability, drawing the world’s top swimmers, divers and water polo teams to Doha after the event was postponed from its original 2023 date due to pandemic-related scheduling issues.

Looking ahead, Doha will once again host the Asian Games in 2030, after it was selected by the Olympic Council of Asia in late 2019.

Qatar’s Olympic Committee says that 95% of the necessary infrastructure for 2036 is already in place, a declaration that speaks directly to the IOC’s “New Norm” framework, which emphasises sustainability and financial prudence. 

The country’s World Cup stadiums, including Khalifa International, Lusail and Al-Bayt, provide ready-made facilities that are adaptable to Olympic disciplines. Khalifa International already has a running track and a history of hosting athletics competitions, while aquatics, handball and other sports are also well catered for. 

Beyond venues, the transport and urban infrastructure developed for the World Cup, including the Doha Metro, expanded highways, airport upgrades and new hospitality capacity, gives Qatar a logistical advantage few prospective hosts can match.

Despite the scale of its existing assets, the games will still require the construction of new facilities such as an Olympic Village, along with an international broadcast centre and main press centre. Repurposing the 2022 World Cup stadiums will also create opportunities for the construction sector. 

Opportunities in Qatar are needed. There has been a significant slump in spending on construction and transport projects in the years that followed the country’s World Cup building programme. 

After Qatar secured the rights to host the World Cup in 2010, there was a sharp uptick in contract awards and cash spend on projects. According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, contract awards peaked in 2014, when there was nearly $27bn of contract awards. Cash spent on projects, which lags behind awards, peaked in 2016 and 2017 at nearly $21bn. 

In 2025, there have been $1.3bn-worth of construction and transport awards, while cash spent totals nearly $4bn.

Qatar offers the IOC a compelling proposition. The infrastructure is ready, the finances are secure

New challenges 

Before attention turns to the possible revival of the construction sector, there are other issues to address, one of which will be climate. 

Just as the 2022 World Cup was moved to November and December to avoid summer heat, the Olympics would almost certainly need to be shifted away from the traditional July and August window. 

While the IOC has shown flexibility on scheduling, the prospect of moving the games to the winter requires global consensus and complicates broadcasting arrangements. 

Reputational risk is another major hurdle. Qatar has faced sustained criticism over labour rights, gender equality and wider social inclusion issues, with human rights organisations highlighting the treatment of migrant workers during the World Cup preparations. Although Doha has introduced reforms, the IOC may be mindful that international scepticism remains. 

The competitive field for 2036 is another consideration. India has proposed a multi-city Olympics centred on Ahmedabad, with plans for extensive new construction. The cost could reach more than $7bn, making it one of the most expensive Olympic Games in history. 

While India’s bid highlights its vast market and growing global stature, it is in direct contrast with the IOC’s push for sustainability and reliance on existing infrastructure. 

Istanbul is also a contender, leveraging Turkiye’s position as a cultural and geographical bridge between Europe and Asia, and highlighting the forthcoming 2027 European Games. Yet Istanbul’s repeated failures in past bids, coupled with security and transport concerns, cast uncertainty over its chances. 

Germany’s possible candidacy brings experience and economic stability, but as Paris hosted in 2024, another European games is unlikely so soon. 

Saudi Arabia, while not yet officially in the race, has also been mooted as a possible candidate, although Riyadh is likely to focus its efforts of delivering the Fifa World Cup 2034.

Egypt has also signalled its Olympic intent. In January 2022, Sports Minister Ashraf Sobhi announced Cairo’s plans to submit a formal application to host the games, which would make Egypt the first African country to do so. 

The IOC has previously expressed interest in awarding the Olympics to Africa, making Cairo’s candidacy significant. 

The host city for 2036 is expected to be announced in 2026 or 2027. On paper, Qatar offers the IOC a compelling, low-risk proposition. The infrastructure is ready, the finances are secure and the operational record is proven. The question is not whether Qatar is able to host the games, but whether the IOC is prepared to endorse a model that prioritises sustainability and logistics over reputational concerns. 

Since losing out in its bid for the 2016 Olympics, Qatar has repeatedly demonstrated that it has learnt how to successfully bid for global events. If successful again, the Olympics will be the driving force behind Qatar’s economic development over the next decade.

Olympics bid aims to extend tourism gains  

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Colin Foreman

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