After WC, Qatar seeks Olympic gold

DOHA: After the World Cup earned Qatar both plaudits and censure, the energy-rich Gulf state is now starting a marathon to secure the 2036 Olympics and a place as a pillar of world sport.

Even as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo scored goals and shed tears in Qatar´s multi-billion-dollar stadiums, its sports administrators were booking new victories off the pitch. During the tournament, Qatar was awarded the 2025 world table tennis championships and the opening race of the world endurance championship in 2024, adding to its packed sports calendar.

Formula One returns in 2023, and a major renovation of Qatar´s race track went ahead during the World Cup shutdown. Qatar also stepped in when China withdrew from holding the 2023 Asian Cup football and is to stage the world swimming championships in 2024. Its beIn Sports channel with its growing viewership and rights portfolio only adds to Qatar´s sports muscle.

Hosting events is "a very powerful game-changing tool", said Michael Payne, a former head of marketing for the International Olympic Committee. Qatar is ploughing ahead with its sporting ambitions despite criticism of its rights record -- particularly the treatment of foreign workers who built the stadiums and power the economy of one of the world´s richest countries.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino repeatedly said Qatar was hosting the "best ever" World Cup, and other federations have also welcomed Qatar´s largesse. An official with the International Table Tennis Federation said "Qatar stepped in to help organise events when Covid devastated the calendar, and its facilities are all in place".

Qatar won an overwhelming majority in the ITTF vote against Spain for the 2025 championships. The 2036 Olympics -- which will not be awarded before 2025 -- is the next big prize. The emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, is an IOC member and Qatar has already bid for the 2016, 2020 and 2032 Games.

Some analysts say its World Cup record will count against Qatar in the Olympic bid. Changing the date of the opening match three months from the start of the World Cup and banning beer around stadiums two days from the start were "errors", said Jean-Loup Chappelet, an Olympic movement specialist at the University of Lausanne.

"The International Olympic Committee wanted none of it (for 2032) and I think that after the World Cup it will be exactly the same," added Chappelet. Veteran marketing specialist Payne also said Qatar and FIFA had scored "own goals", but added that these had been quickly forgotten.