HE Dahlan Al Hamad, president of the Qatar and Asian athletics federations and IAAF vice-president, confirmed that when Qatar competed to host the 2019 World Championships, its bid was full of transparency and earned its rightful outcome from the IAAF’s council, which gave Qatar its due right to organise the championships. Al Hamad confirmed that when the Qatari bid was submitted to host the 2017 World Championships it did not win, but the bid benefited from that loss afterwards and delivered the quality required to host the following edition, earning the right to host the championships with complete integrity, and that there is no suspicion whatsoever in the Qatari bid, which is above suspicion.
HE Dahlan Al Hamad confirmed that Qatar has nothing to hide, and that it is always ready to respond to any allegations from any party, whether media or otherwise, noting that Qatar has no need to engage in underhand practices, backed by its great sporting history and its leadership’s vision for development, and that Qatar always relies on its own capabilities to deliver something that dazzles the world and achieves quality for athletics, pointing to the distinguished partnership between the Qatar Athletics Federation and the Qatar Olympic Committee, led by HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, the committee’s president, and his team, through dazzling the entire world at last season’s World Handball Championship, affirming at the same time that Qatar will achieve the same excellence and more through the Qatar Olympic Committee for the 2019 World Championships.
HE Al Hamad stressed that Qatar will not hesitate to respond to any allegations in order to protect its rights, and that this will be done in coordination with the IAAF and its various committees, which know Qatar’s capabilities in developing sport through hosting various sporting events
In an opening address at the important conference held at the Torch Hotel, in the presence of British IAAF president Sebastian Coe, he said Doha is ready for all the challenges ahead, saying in his address: we are nearly a hundred days from the first Diamond League meeting of this year, and just one month separates us from the 7th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, and both championships will be hosted by the city of Doha. Lord Sebastian Coe has chosen to honour us with a visit for his first appearance as the new chairman of the Diamond League, a role he took on just a few weeks ago
He added: it is a great honour for us to have the IAAF president with us today in the State of Qatar, launching the 2016 Diamond League season from Doha, about a hundred days before the start of this, the biggest championship in world athletics, which fans of this sport are used to seeing launched from Doha, and which will be held this year in May
And we are grateful that, over the past three difficult months, we have seen Lord Sebastian Coe represent our sport with courage, without tiring or flagging, and in the best possible way, as he fights to secure the future of athletics and begins implementing an approach to managing our sport’s affairs marked by transparency and wisdom
