Recent Posts

Archives

• May 2008 (1)
• February 2008 (1)
• January 2008 (1)
• December 2007 (1)
• November 2007 (1)

Chairman's Blog

14.11.2007

Celebrating Change

It has been an exciting few weeks for the Doha 2016 team.

At the end of October we officially launched our Bid to become a candidate city. It was the first opportunity we’ve had to really outline our vision for the Games, not only to the world but more particularly to the people of Qatar.

The event was held on the Corniche, which itself is a stunning symbol of what the power of enterprise and culture can achieve. In the presence of the Heir Apparent of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, thousands of people got their first glimpse of the Bid’s logo and slogan. It was a spectacular event, with fireworks and aerial acrobatics, which united all the people of Qatar behind the Bid.

The slogan for our bid is “Celebrating Change.” This is not just a marketing slogan, but it represents the very real desire of the people and government of Qatar to make a difference – to help change people’s lives around the world through peaceful sport – and to celebrate those changes for the good.

We are also celebrating the great changes that have taken place in Qatar over the past decade or so, both socially and materially. And, of course, the Olympic and Paralympic Games are the world’s greatest celebration.

During my time in Lausanne at the workshop given by the IOC, I mostly spent time listening. And perhaps the most important piece of advice that I heard was not just to think about what the Olympics can do for a candidate city, but what the candidate city can do for the Olympic movement.

That has always been our philosophy. We Arabs have a long reputation for great hospitality and generosity. We would like to stage the Olympic and Paralympic Games to give something back to the international community as well as to all those people who have made their home in Qatar.

We have already made a substantial investment in sporting facilities in Doha to host the Asian Games recently. I am delighted that two of these facilities, the Aspire Dome and the Khalifa stadium recently won silver and bronze medals respectively in an IOC sponsored competition for sports venues. Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the Secretary General of the Qatar National Olympic Committee, attended the awards ceremony in Cologne.

We still have ambitious plans to build more venues where the best athletes can train and compete. But the sporting facilities we are creating are not just showcases in which sporting excellence can blossom, but also nurseries for young talent to grow and develop. Today’s 10 and 11-year-olds have the potential to be Olympic champions in 2016 and we in Qatar want to nurture that young talent.

Over the next few weeks I plan to hold meetings with all the sports federations in Qatar to plan our long term investment in sport. Doha will stage more and more world class events which I hope will inspire the younger generation to take up sports. Some may well have the potential to go all the way and compete as Olympians. Others may take up a sport simply for the pleasure of playing the game.

When we launched our bid and the Logo on the Corniche I wanted to make sure that the younger generation were represented. So many hundreds of school children were invited to the event to see first hand our vision for a Doha 2016 Games. I spent some time talking to them before the event started and I was touched by their enthusiasm and support.

That’s also why on the thousands of billboards, flags and adverts in around Doha, we feature four young sports stars. Our bid is focussed on our shared future and these four youngsters belong to the generation who we want to represent the change that our Bid hopes to celebrate.

And to all you sporting youngsters reading this blog, if we win the opportunity to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, it will be on your behalf so please feel free to write to me with your thoughts and comments.