Don't get me wrong amnesia, fair play to Doha for bidding and I wish them good luck. As it's the only city on the list I've lived in I'd like to see them get it. But being a realist rather than an optimist I can't see it happening. There are many issues to consider;
- Doha is small (geographically and population)
- Poor attendance at the 2006 Asian Games
- Hot weather
- Lack of things to do when not watching events
- Qatar's practice of 'buying' athletes from other countries
- Stability of the region
- Israel
- Lack of Olympic history
- Long term effect of building all the infrastructure for the Olympics
I don't want to start a debate over whether these are valid issues or not and I don't necessarily agree with them all, but they have all been mentioned in the numerous discussions I've read about the Doha bid. Obviously all the bidding cities have their pros and cons, but I think the issues relating to Doha are too big to overcome, but I'd love them to prove me wrong.
Don't get me wrong amnesia, fair play to Doha for bidding and I wish them good luck. As it's the only city on the list I've lived in I'd like to see them get it. But being a realist rather than an optimist I can't see it happening. There are many issues to consider;
- Doha is small (geographically and population)
- Poor attendance at the 2006 Asian Games
- Hot weather
- Lack of things to do when not watching events
- Qatar's practice of 'buying' athletes from other countries
- Stability of the region
- Israel
- Lack of Olympic history
- Long term effect of building all the infrastructure for the Olympics
I don't want to start a debate over whether these are valid issues or not and I don't necessarily agree with them all, but they have all been mentioned in the numerous discussions I've read about the Doha bid. Obviously all the bidding cities have their pros and cons, but I think the issues relating to Doha are too big to overcome, but I'd love them to prove me wrong.
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