Qatar bids for 2022 World Cup 19, March 2009
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Qatar.Tags: Asian cup football, Asian Games, Aspire academy, Athletics, Olympics, Qatar, Soft Power, sports, World Cup bid, WTA Tennis
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Qatar has officially announced that it will bid to host the 2022 World Cup. This is one plinth of a far larger strategy to – essentially – put Qatar on the international map, whilst winning friends and influencing them. Sport is one method that Qatar is using to purse this goal. They have already hosted the 2006 Asian Games, one of Tennis’ WTA Championships, and will host the 2011 Asian Cup football tournament as well as the 2010 World Indoor Athletics Championships. Additionally, no-one watching television in (what seems like) the entire Middle East can have missed adverts for Qatar’s ‘Aspire’ sports academy, which aims to train the next generation of Olympic athletes from the region.
The Gulf blog 