Losing an Olympic Bid
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Notes from Qatar
October 2, 2008 - 11:00pmIn the year 2000, when Doha was selected as the host city for the Asian Games to be held in December 2006, many critics cried foul play in the selection process. Cities like Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, which had lost out to Doha in the elimination process, said that Qatar’s economic influence had played a large role in its winning the right to hold the games. To a large extent, it was the collective support of the West Asian countries that had led to Doha’s winning the bid. Whether the critics’ claim was right is not the issue; no one can doubt the weight of their concern. After all, they were talking about the Asian Games, which is second only to the Olympics in size and glamour in Asia. Moreover, at the time that the bid was won, Doha was not as developed and capable of hosting a mega event as it is today.
Then came December of 2006, and Doha answered its critics. Small complaints and glitches aside, Doha gave the people “the games of [their] lives,” just as it had promised. In doing so, Qatar had flexed its economic might to the required extent. The Doha Asian Games’ opening and closing ceremonies were declared some of the best yet seen for any sporting events (see the photo below of the opening ceremony). As a matter of fact, the ceremony-conducting gurus around the world still rate it very highly, and some consider it the second best after the Beijing 2008 Olympics’ ceremonies.
But something interesting was going on behind the scenes. Immediately after the games ended, before the banners, posters and advertisements were removed, and before the people could get back to routine life, something grander was being announced. Doha declared that it would compete to host the Olympics in 2016. This is not as small a feat as one may initially think. True, Doha has most of the sporting facilities in place (including some which are rated amongst the top in the world) and the finances to build new facilities if necessary. In fact, money is not a concern. Also true is the fact that no West Asian country has ever hosted the Olympics (add to the equation the continent rotating policy of the International Olympic Committee) and with London hosting it in 2012, Doha started with a good chance of winning the bid. At the center of its bid was the idea of “celebrating change;” Doha wanted to bring the Olympics to a previously undeveloped and unpopular part of the world.
Unfortunately, as you would agree, not everything can be like a fairytale. Doha got eliminated out of the bid on June 4 this year. And with that, a million hearts were broken. But, interestingly enough, the elimination has raised more questions than it has answered. The essence of these questions, some answerable and some not, formed the basis for Doha’s elimination. One of the reasons that supposedly played a major role is Doha’s proposed time of holding the games. The Summer Olympics are usually held during the summer months (hence, Summer Olympics). However, how in the world can a city like Doha host the Olympics during summer months, when local temperatures are known to reach 122° F? Very rightly, Doha had proposed that the Olympics be held in October, when the temperature is milder and more suitable for an event of this magnitude. As expected, the idea didn’t exactly suit everyone. Now herein lies the question: If extreme heat is the problem, then does it mean that the Middle East in general can never host the Summer Olympics?
If extreme temperature played a role in Qatar’s failure to win the bid, then so did rain. Few people expect a country like Qatar to have significant rainfall, much less in the month of December. The organizers of the Asian Games’ opening ceremony likely didn’t. But it poured heavily until minutes before the Opening Ceremony on December 1, 2006. Since the organizers were not ready to deal with such a situation, exiting of players and audience members from the stadium was total chaos. Transportation problems added to the misery, and some players were left to soak outside. Apparently, the issue of transportation facilities that night, and in general, played a crucial role in Doha’s loss of 2016 Olympics bid. All in all, one would not disagree that nature played a large role in the decision. The loss revealed some existing problems that Doha must address before hosting the Olympics, and its answer will, hopefully, translate into a successful bid to host them in the future.