Qatar, Saudi Arabia bid to host 2030 Asian Games

[Indos]

Qatar, Saudi Arabia bid to host 2030 Asian Games
The decision about the host city will be announced at the Olympic Council of Asia General Assembly meeting in November.

15 hours ago

The city of Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province, will host the Asian Games in 2022 [File: AFP]

Qatar and Saudi Arabia will compete for the hosting rights of the Asian Games in 2030, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has announced.

In a statement on Thursday, the OCA said it had received bids from Doha and Riyadh, the capital cities of the two neighbouring Gulf countries.

More:

• Qatar vs Saudi Arabia: Football, blockade and piracy at Asian Cup

• Coronavirus: What sporting events are affected by the pandemic?

• Qatar postal blockage ends as regional rivals restore service

"The OCA is delighted to receive two strong bids for our Asian Games in 2030," said Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad al-Sabah, the body's president.

"It shows the trust and confidence in the Olympic Movement in Asia and further enhances our reputation of hosting world-class sporting events on a major scale."

The 45-member OCA had invited bids for the games by Wednesday.

The host city will be decided at the OCA General Assembly meeting in Sanya, China, on November 29.

"With these two bids for the 2030 Asian Games we now have stability and continuity in our sports movement for the next decade," Sheikh Ahmad said.

"It puts us in an envious position in terms of our sports calendar and highlights again that Asia is a major partner in the global Olympic movement."

Chinese city Hangzhou had been selected to host the next Games in 2022, with the 2026 edition scheduled to take place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

Qatar hosted the 15th edition of the Games in 2006, but Saudi Arabia has never organised an OCA multi-sport event.

"We believe it is time to bid to host it again to welcome all of Asia to our country," said Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, president of the Qatar Olympic Committee.

In 2022, Qatar will host the World Cup, the biggest football event in the world.

"We want to put our expertise and capabilities in the service of Asian sport," Sheikh Joaan said. "Through close cooperation with our friends in the Asian Olympic family, we promise to provide the best possible environment for athletes to present their best and encourage future generations of young people in the Asian continent."

Saudi Arabia, alongside the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, imposed a blockade on Qatar and cut diplomatic and trade ties with it on June 5, 2017.

The quartet accuses Qatar of "supporting terrorism" and being too close to regional rival, Iran. Qatar has repeatedly rejected the accusations as baseless.

https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/qatar-saudi-arabia-bid-host-2030-asian-games-200423164028858.html

 

[313ghazi]

Are they friends now?

 

[Zibago]

Qatar, Saudi Arabia bid to host 2030 Asian Games
The decision about the host city will be announced at the Olympic Council of Asia General Assembly meeting in November.

15 hours ago

The city of Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province, will host the Asian Games in 2022 [File: AFP]

Qatar and Saudi Arabia will compete for the hosting rights of the Asian Games in 2030, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has announced.

In a statement on Thursday, the OCA said it had received bids from Doha and Riyadh, the capital cities of the two neighbouring Gulf countries.

More:

• Qatar vs Saudi Arabia: Football, blockade and piracy at Asian Cup

• Coronavirus: What sporting events are affected by the pandemic?

• Qatar postal blockage ends as regional rivals restore service

"The OCA is delighted to receive two strong bids for our Asian Games in 2030," said Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad al-Sabah, the body's president.

"It shows the trust and confidence in the Olympic Movement in Asia and further enhances our reputation of hosting world-class sporting events on a major scale."

The 45-member OCA had invited bids for the games by Wednesday.

The host city will be decided at the OCA General Assembly meeting in Sanya, China, on November 29.

"With these two bids for the 2030 Asian Games we now have stability and continuity in our sports movement for the next decade," Sheikh Ahmad said.

"It puts us in an envious position in terms of our sports calendar and highlights again that Asia is a major partner in the global Olympic movement."

Chinese city Hangzhou had been selected to host the next Games in 2022, with the 2026 edition scheduled to take place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

Qatar hosted the 15th edition of the Games in 2006, but Saudi Arabia has never organised an OCA multi-sport event.

"We believe it is time to bid to host it again to welcome all of Asia to our country," said Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, president of the Qatar Olympic Committee.

In 2022, Qatar will host the World Cup, the biggest football event in the world.

"We want to put our expertise and capabilities in the service of Asian sport," Sheikh Joaan said. "Through close cooperation with our friends in the Asian Olympic family, we promise to provide the best possible environment for athletes to present their best and encourage future generations of young people in the Asian continent."

Saudi Arabia, alongside the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, imposed a blockade on Qatar and cut diplomatic and trade ties with it on June 5, 2017.

The quartet accuses Qatar of "supporting terrorism" and being too close to regional rival, Iran. Qatar has repeatedly rejected the accusations as baseless.

https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/qatar-saudi-arabia-bid-host-2030-asian-games-200423164028858.html

Hope its not in Summer

 

[Indos]

Hope its not in Summer

Yup, I think it will be between January until April. The climate is quite good at those period in Saudi. And I think @ArabianEmpires&Caliphates can explain more and give some picture on Saudi stadiums and sport complext. I believe Saudi will win the bid since Qatar has already hosted Asian Games in 2000's.

 

[Zibago]

Yup, I think it will be between January until April. The climate is quite good at those period in Saudi. And I think @ArabianEmpires&Caliphates can explain more and give some picture on Saudi stadiums and sport complext. I believe Saudi will win the bid since Qatar has already hosted Asian Games in 2000's.

The north Europeans would probably melt or something in 35+ temperature

 

[masterchief_mirza]

Yup, I think it will be between January until April. The climate is quite good at those period in Saudi. And I think @ArabianEmpires&Caliphates can explain more and give some picture on Saudi stadiums and sport complext. I believe Saudi will win the bid since Qatar has already hosted Asian Games in 2000's.

Maybe publicly they've settled down but beneath the surface they're really going at each other.

https://www.deadline.com/2020/04/qa...-soccer-club-newcastle-united-1202914779/amp/

I have a feeling the Saudi group will win the bid for Newcastle Utd despite BeIN's protests but the very fact that they objected and brought up the issue of piracy by the Arab broadcaster suggests the rivalry is heating up rather than cooling down.

Are they friends now?

 

[Indos]

The north Europeans would probably melt or something in 35+ temperature

Ya when I was a kid my family get a guess from German, she is a girl who is a friend of my aunt. The girl is quite pretty and I still remember her name, Carroline

At that time we dont use any Air Conditioner and that girl (around 25-27 years) spend some time in our house, Maybe 1-2 weeks. Jakarta temperature is about 32 degree at the peak and she seems doesnt bother about it, but when she slept in a small room we prepared for her, she has to open the door and slept with only underwear

 

[Zibago]

Ya when I was a kid my family get a guess from German, she is a girl who is a friend of my aunt. The girl is quite pretty and I still remember her name, Carroline

At that time we dont use any Air Conditioner and that girl (around 25-27 years) spend some time in our house, Maybe 1-2 weeks. Jakarta temperature is about 32 degree at the peak and she seems doesnt bother about it, but when she slept in a small room we prepared for her, she has to open the door and slept with only underwear

Was she easy on the eyes ?

 

[Aspen]

I hope Qatar gets it

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

Hope its not in Summer

Most if not all of Asia is hot during the summer time (June, July and August), this is not exclusive to KSA, Qatar or the GCC. Which is why the Asian Games are usually held in September and October. Most of KSA (except for our coastal cities along the 3000 + km long Saudi Arabian coastline and some of our semi-tropical mountainous areas in the South), unlike coastal Qatar, do not face the problem of humidity which is a killer in huge parts of Asia where a tropical/semi-tropical climate is present and during the summer this gets even worse.

2/3 of KSA's territory is mountainous anyway which lowers the temperature significantly and the humidity (which is very low in inland and mountainous areas in KSA) and since most of KSA has an arid climate, nights/mornings tend to be pleasant even during the hottest summer months.

Also depending on the region and province of KSA, due to the many mountain regions in KSA, some of our largest cities are cities located 2000 + meters above sea level (take Ta'if - the unofficial summer capital, Abha, Al-Baha and many big cities) where temperatures during the summer months are pleasant and rarely ever cross 35. In such cities, if the infrastructure was built, the Asian Games could easily be held even in the mid of July or August.

If it will be held during September or October it should not really be a problem in most of KSA, anymore than it is a problem/challenge elsewhere in Asia.

KSA is a huge country. The 12th largest in the world. Each region/historical province is like a country itself which its own unique and characteristic geography, different climate etc. (although an arid climate dominates), elevation, humidity level etc. It can by no means be compared to small city states such as Qatar or UAE (which is mainly Dubai and Abu Dhabi as rest of the cities don't have the necessary infrastructure to host tournaments of such size and rest of the country is desert and mountains - UAE is no small country geographically compared to say the average European country but compared to KSA it is a tiny country).

Yup, I think it will be between January until April. The climate is quite good at those period in Saudi. And I think @ArabianEmpires&Caliphates can explain more and give some picture on Saudi stadiums and sport complext. I believe Saudi will win the bid since Qatar has already hosted Asian Games in 2000's.

As I wrote, much of KSA is generally hot (30 + degrees and sometimes over 40 + degrees) during June, July and August (the hottest months) but rest of the year the weather is mostly fantastic which is why GCC has been/is hosting some of the largest outdoor sports tournaments during the winter, spring and autumn in numerous outdoor sports such as tennis, cycling, athletics, football, golf, formula 1 and racing etc. (probably forgot a lot of sports).

As for KSA, KSA has some of the largest and most modern football stadiums/stadiums/sports infrastructure in the world. We have been hosting a lot of world famous sports events recently. Dakar Rally, international tennis and golf tournaments, football tournaments (Italian and Spanish Super Cup, aside from Asian football tournaments, club and international), racing etc. Things have really changed in recent years in KSA in this department and the potential is lightyears ahead (naturally) of the smaller GCC states although Qatar and UAE have world class infrastructure and much experience with hosting international tournaments.

etc.

What is KSA's challenge is increasing the booming tourism sector in terms of infrastructure (hotels, facilities etc.)

As for stadiums in KSA, just search on Google.

etc.

I hope Qatar gets it

Well, what a self-confessed Wilayat al-Faqih regime admirer hopes is of no importance. In any case an Arab country will get it either way (most likely) so all is good and if Qatar, a neighbor that we share everything with, gets it, I will be happy as well.

Are they friends now?

Things are moving in the right direction, Qatar has no real option long-term wise either way. In fact in the perfect world the GCC/Arabia should be one single entity like throughout millennia in the form of ancient civilizations, empires, caliphates, kingdoms, sultanates, emirates, sheikdoms, imamates etc. In fact what is today Qatar used to be a part of numerous Saudi states just ruled by the House of Saud. For almost all of recorded history, Qatar has always been ruled by a dynasty with origins in KSA. In fact the ruling family of Qatar (Al-Thani) are originally from Najd, some 300 years ago. The previous Qatari Emir made a visit to his ancestral village in Najd a few weeks before the diplomatic row began in 2017. Suffice to say that the same is the case with the Qatari people.

 

[Timur]

if qatar gets it will saudi arabia put their logos and images over qatar tv logos like they did with other events?

 

[bsruzm]

I vote for Qatar, better standarts, fancy.

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

if qatar gets it will saudi arabia put their logos and images over qatar tv logos like they did with other events?

Insha'Allah by 2030, the beautiful Saudi Arabian flag will be flying all over Qatar or the flag of a unified Arabian state.

I vote for Qatar, better standarts, fancy.

I vote for Diyarbakir (named after the Arab tribe Banu Bakr that used to rule this area of Anatolia). Very fancy.

@camelguy @Salmanov ( )

 

[Salmanov]

if qatar gets it will saudi arabia put their logos and images over qatar tv logos like they did with other events?

I vote for Qatar, better standarts, fancy.

There are zero difference between Saudi and Qatar they are one country. Modern day Saudi Arabia used to be ruled by different families and clans before al Saud took over and United Arabia and become the sole royal family if wasn’t for imperialists Saudis would have united the entire Arabia including Kuwait ,UAE and Oman

Insha'Allah by 2030, the beautiful Saudi Arabian flag will be flying all over Qatar or the flag of a unified Arabian state.

I vote for Diyarbakir (named after the Arab tribe Banu Bakr that used to rule this area of Anatolia). Very fancy.

@camelguy @Salmanov ( )

Diyar baker, Diyar mudhar, and Diyar rabeeah the Arab syriac Aramean land which the stateless mountain nomads claim it was their historical land but the name of these lands tells you who is really the owner here

 

[Saddam Hussein]

Ban that entire event together with all its useless non-productive glamorized players, **** the Asian games