October 5 – Doha was in confident mood after the opening day of the International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) visit here to inspect its bid to host the 2017 World Championships, claming that they were “impressed with everything they have seen”, even though they admitted that concerns had been raised about the heat.
The IAAF Evaluation Commission, chaired by senior vice-president Bob Hersh (pictured) from America, flew here direct from London, Doha’s only rivals, where they completed their inspection visit yesterday and visited the Khalifa Stadium to see the proposed venue if Qatar is awarded the Championships.
There are plans to spend up to $400 million (£259 million/€300 million) renovate the Stadium as part of Qatar’s preprations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and it will have a capacity of 40,000 – 20,000 less than London – for the athletics but also include two state-of-the-art 100 metres long giant screens.
“Frankly, I’m telling you they are impressed with everything they have seen,” said Abdulla Ahmed al-Zaini, the executive director of Doha 2017.
“There is development in this country.
“Some of them were here in 2010 [for the World Indoor Championships] and there have been a lot of changes since then.”
But al-Zaini admitted that fears over how hot it will be in Doha even during the proposed dates for the Championships in the middle of September, when the temperatures can still reach over 100 degrees, had been voiced.
That makes tomorrow’s visit to Al Sadd Stadium to showcase the cooling technology that Qatar has pioneered – and which was hugely influential in them controversially being awarded the 2022 World Cup – absolutely crucial.
As part of the renovations of the Khalifa Stadium, the system will blow cool air below the seats and help keep the competitors comfortable.
“We will show them the stadium and show them how we will solve this problem,” al-Zaini said of the heat.
“Of course they are concerned.
“This [cooling technology] will be truly a spectacular innovation.”
Maher Safi, the marketing manager at the Qatar Association of Athletics Federation (QAAF), also pledged to make the colling technology available to the rest of the world after the Championships.
“I think this is going to work positively for us, we are going to share with the IAAF technology that can help in future events after 2017, we’re going to take this event to a new market,” he said.
“Whether it is the warm weather here in the Middle East or in Africa, or in cold weather in Chile or Canada, for example, we have the technology that we’re going to share with the world, how to manage climate in the field, where you can take your event to a new market and expand your sport.”
