The state is determined to bring one of the world’s top sporting events to Qatar and will now challenge England and possibly the USA for the right to host the 2018 tournament.
Last week the IOC decided to not short-list Doha as candidate city for the 2016 Olympic Games, despite its evaluation committee having placed the Doha bid equal third on technical merit with Chicago. The IOC said it had discounted the Doha bid due to the proposed dates of the competition being outside their recommendations.
Qatar has already staged the 2006 Asian Games and is due to host football’s 2011 Asian Cup. Plans are reportedly already underway to begin implementing the necessary infrastructure for a World Cup bid with new hotels and stadiums to be built in the cities of Doha, Ras Laffan, Al-Khor, Mesaieed and Dukhan.
