Leader hopes to snag the 2016 Tour de France start and 2020 Olympics
BY REGAN DOHERTY
REUTERS
Biking through the south of France one summer’s day a decade ago, the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al- Thani, was stopped by a pack of cyclists from the Tour de France.
So impressed was he with the peloton racing past that he phoned the veteran Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx and asked him to organize a similar race in Qatar. Thus began a 10-year love affair with sport, crowned by last year’s successful bid to host the 2022 soccer World Cup.
But Qatar’s bold ambitions in the realm of sport do not end there. Last month, it officially began a bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. It has also put in a bid for the 2017 World Athletic Championships and has expressed interest in hosting the Grand Départ for the 2016 Tour de France.
Qatar Airways, which is owned by the state, was the official airline for this year’s Tour de France, while a Qatari investment vehicle this year bought a 70 percent stake in the French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain for an undisclosed amount.
Al Jazeera, based in Doha, recently bought a share of the domestic television rights to French soccer league games from 2012 to 2016, paying €90 million, or $126 million, a year for the right lavishly
on bids for sporting events. It spent $2.8 billion on the Asian Games, which it hosted in 2006 and estimates of its likely spending for the 2022 World Cup reach $100 billion. ‘‘Qatar’s foray into sport and other youth-oriented initiatives has helpedboost the government's popularity and helped it connect with a new generation of Qataris,’’ said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center.
‘‘The World Cup bid, as well as the flurry of sporting, education, and cultural activities, have all shown the Qatari government to be both active and innovative, offering a sharp contrast to most other Arab regimes.’’
In a country where summer temperatures can reach as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), although temperatures are much milder in winter, cycling might seem an unlikely activity.
Yet the emir’s daughter Sheikha Mayassa organized a women’s bicycle race in 2009, and it is now an annual event. ‘‘The ladies tour is a political statement from Sheikha Mayassa, to show that Qatar is an open, liberal country where women as well as men can play sports,’’ said Dirk DePauw, the organizer of the race.
Mr. Merckx, the Belgian cyclist, who helped initiate the race, said: ‘‘Qatar wants to be a country where sport is very important. They want to do it for the young people, and to help with obesity and the health problems.’’
The whole of the emir’s family ‘‘loves cycling,’’ Mr Merckx said, adding: ‘‘He bikes, the whole family bikes, and he wants the people here to bike.’’ But royal enthusiasm aside, there is an underlying economic logic to all this.
For now, Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, but one day the gas will run out.
Building its image as a modern sporting venue is part of Qatar’s plan for a future without gas.
Members of the royal family ‘‘are passionate about sports,’’ said Ahmed Abdullahal-Nuaimi, chairman of Tourism Authority. ‘‘That’s why they went after 2022,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s something that no one in the region has ever done.’’ He added: ‘‘And it’s not only for Doha — it’s for the whole region. People will see the Middle East in a different way, not just as a struggle, as a political problem, but as offering something else.’’ Its room to maneuver is likely to narrow further if economic conditions continue to worsen in the European Union, its main export market.
FADI AL-ASSAAD/REUTERS
The 2009 Tour of Qatar, a race organized with help from the Belgian rider Eddy Merckx. ‘‘Where is the maestro who will execute these plans?’’
But political inertia could hamper efforts to cut dependence on crude Leader hopes to snag the 2016 Tour de France start and 2020 Olympics.
Leader hopes to snag the 2016 Tour de France start and 2020 Olympics
BY REGAN DOHERTY
REUTERS
Biking through the south of France one summer’s day a decade ago, the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al- Thani, was stopped by a pack of cyclists from the Tour de France.
So impressed was he with the peloton racing past that he phoned the veteran Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx and asked him to organize a similar race in Qatar. Thus began a 10-year love affair with sport, crowned by last year’s successful bid to host the 2022 soccer World Cup.
But Qatar’s bold ambitions in the realm of sport do not end there. Last month, it officially began a bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. It has also put in a bid for the 2017 World Athletic Championships and has expressed interest in hosting the Grand Départ for the 2016 Tour de France.
Qatar Airways, which is owned by the state, was the official airline for this year’s Tour de France, while a Qatari investment vehicle this year bought a 70 percent stake in the French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain for an undisclosed amount.
Al Jazeera, based in Doha, recently bought a share of the domestic television rights to French soccer league games from 2012 to 2016, paying €90 million, or $126 million, a year for the right lavishly
on bids for sporting events. It spent $2.8 billion on the Asian Games, which it hosted in 2006 and estimates of its likely spending for the 2022 World Cup reach $100 billion. ‘‘Qatar’s foray into sport and other youth-oriented initiatives has helpedboost the government's popularity and helped it connect with a new generation of Qataris,’’ said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center.
‘‘The World Cup bid, as well as the flurry of sporting, education, and cultural activities, have all shown the Qatari government to be both active and innovative, offering a sharp contrast to most other Arab regimes.’’
In a country where summer temperatures can reach as high as 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), although temperatures are much milder in winter, cycling might seem an unlikely activity.
Yet the emir’s daughter Sheikha Mayassa organized a women’s bicycle race in 2009, and it is now an annual event. ‘‘The ladies tour is a political statement from Sheikha Mayassa, to show that Qatar is an open, liberal country where women as well as men can play sports,’’ said Dirk DePauw, the organizer of the race.
Mr. Merckx, the Belgian cyclist, who helped initiate the race, said: ‘‘Qatar wants to be a country where sport is very important. They want to do it for the young people, and to help with obesity and the health problems.’’
The whole of the emir’s family ‘‘loves cycling,’’ Mr Merckx said, adding: ‘‘He bikes, the whole family bikes, and he wants the people here to bike.’’ But royal enthusiasm aside, there is an underlying economic logic to all this.
For now, Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, but one day the gas will run out.
Building its image as a modern sporting venue is part of Qatar’s plan for a future without gas.
Members of the royal family ‘‘are passionate about sports,’’ said Ahmed Abdullahal-Nuaimi, chairman of Tourism Authority. ‘‘That’s why they went after 2022,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s something that no one in the region has ever done.’’ He added: ‘‘And it’s not only for Doha — it’s for the whole region. People will see the Middle East in a different way, not just as a struggle, as a political problem, but as offering something else.’’ Its room to maneuver is likely to narrow further if economic conditions continue to worsen in the European Union, its main export market.
FADI AL-ASSAAD/REUTERS
The 2009 Tour of Qatar, a race organized with help from the Belgian rider Eddy Merckx. ‘‘Where is the maestro who will execute these plans?’’
But political inertia could hamper efforts to cut dependence on crude Leader hopes to snag the 2016 Tour de France start and 2020 Olympics.
