Doha has won the hosting right for the 2019 World Athletics Championships, beating rival bids from Barcelona and the American city of Euugene.
The 17th edition of the IAAF World Championships has been suggested to run from 28 September to 6 October to avoid the extreme heat of the Gulf region’s summer.
Officials say temperatures are lower then than in May, when Doha stages its annual diamond League event.
Leader of the Doha bid team, Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, says the Qatari Athletics Federations are “confident of organising one of the best World Championships.”
“I am sure that in Doha we will have a wonderful edition of the World Championships. I am convinced they are committed through sport to developing their country and their community, and they are doing the right things,” IAAF President Lamine Diack said, while announcing the winner of the 2019 bid at the Fairmont Hotel in Monaco on Tuesday.
Beijing (CHN) will stage the 2015 championship from 22-30 August; followed in 2017 by London (GBR) from 5-13 August that year.
Qatar will also host the 2022 Fifa World Cup.
Voting Result for the hosting of the 2019 Worlds:
First round: Doha – 12, Eugene – 9, Barcelona – 6 (Barcelona was eliminated).
Second round: Doha – 15, Eugene – 12.