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Athletics: Doha selected as host of 2019 IAAF World Championships

Khalifa International Stadium - Doha
Image: Khalifa International Stadium: Doha venue to host 2019 World Championships

Doha has been selected as the host city for the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships.

The Qatar capital beat off rival bids from Barcelona and Eugene in the United States after a secret ballot by the IAAF Council in Monaco.

Doha's victory was another sporting boost for Qatar after the oil-rich country won the rights to stage the World Cup in 2022.

Beijing will host next year's world championships while London, which beat off a rival bid from Doha, will stage the event two years later.

Eugene had been attempting to bring the championships to the States for the first time since they were established 31 years ago.

Dahlan al Hamad, Doha's bid leader and president of Qatar's Athletics Federation, said: "We have had a dream of organising such an event for a long time."

IAAF president Lamine Diack revealed 1992 Olympic Games hosts Barcelona were eliminated in the first round of voting after only receiving six votes.

Doha picked up 12 votes, while Oregon city Eugene had nine as both progressed to a second round.

The Qatar city then won the nomination by a 15-12 majority and Diack said: "I'm sure that we will have, in Doha, 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."

Desert heat

Qatari officials have said the championships will be held at the end of September and beginning of October, a move from the traditional August staging, to avoid the worst of the country's desert heat.

Aphrodite Moschoudi, Qatar's Olympic Committee's senior advisor, reassured the council during Doha's presentation that the weather will 'not be a problem for the world championships'.

"There are two great things about these dates," he said. "First the temperature in Doha at this time of year is no different to several recent world championships.

"Average temperature at that time of the year is even lower than temperatures we have at our Diamond League meeting every May.

"Secondly, it would allow us to introduce the innovation of staging the championships as a fantastic grand finale to the season, which we know is something you often discuss."

Moschoudi also highlighted that the refurbished Khalifa International Stadium, which is central to both the plans for 2019 and the 2022 World Cup, will give organisers the opportunity to use cooling technology if necessary, adding: "But we don't think you will need it."

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