Dr. Christos Anagnostopoulos & Dr. Kamilla Swart-Arries
Qatar is one of the few countries to have a national holiday dedicated to sport and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. In accordance with Amiri Resolution No. (80) (2011) the second Tuesday of February has since 2012 been marked as National Sports Day.
To celebrate this year’s 13th edition, professors and students majoring in sport and entertainment management at Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s (HBKU) College of Science and Engineering (CSE), were tasked with answering a simple but highly indicative and pertinent question: how many sporting events has Qatar hosted since 2005, when the 3rd West Asian Games were held here as a test event for the 2006 Asian Games?
The project was led by Dr. Christos Anagnostopoulos, Assistant Professor in Sport Management and UNESCO Chairholder on Governance & Social Responsibility in Sport, supported by Dr. Kamilla Swart-Arries, Associate Professor and Director of HBKU’s MSc in Sport and Entertainment program, and primarily executed by Hissa Hadi Al-hajri and Farah Zeyad Ali, 2nd and 1st-year students of the MSc program, respectively.
Examining published data, the research team meticulously categorized Qatar’s hosted events into regional and international categories, as well as team and individual competitions, and clustered them per sport. Since 2005, Qatar has hosted a remarkable 176 high-profile sporting events, with 101 falling within the regional spectrum and 76 on an international scale. Notably, the country has shown a proclivity for team sport events, with 50 categorized as regional (compared to 31 individual events) and 63 as international (versus 32 individual events).
The data underscores Qatar’s rapid evolution into a major destination for sporting events across various disciplines. Notable highlights obviously include FIFA World Cup 2022, the first time that football’s leading tournament was hosted by an Islamic and Middle Eastern country. Beyond football, Qatar has left an indelible mark on tennis hosting 15 prominent Asian and international events. These include the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where top stars regularly showcase their talents.
Qatar has also established itself as a basketball hub, having hosted 10 major tournaments, ranging from continental championships to global World Cup qualifiers. Although not part of the data, it is worth mentioning that the Qatar Basketball Federation (QBF) has been awarded the hosting rights for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027. And let’s not forget that this year’s National Sports Day coincides with Doha’s staging of the World Aquatics Championship, the most prestigious global event for watersports.
Qatar has a growing reputation for hosting multi-sport events, such as the 9th edition of the GCC Sports Tournament for Universities and Higher Education Institutes, and record-breaking spectacles like the 2006 Asian Games. Beyond organizing 38 multi-sporting occasions, the country has also organized many standalone world-class events covering cycling, sailing, billiards, archery, fencing, and more. Add to this mix 5 combat sports championships, the same number of top-class squash competitions, as well as 8 major cricket tournaments and it’s easy to see why Qatar has a burgeoning reputation for flawlessly delivering events across a diverse range of sports.
This ‘picture’ empirically demonstrates that Qatar has firmly positioned itself as a key player in the global sports arena, aligning with its National Vision 2030, which emphasizes economic diversification, environmental initiatives, human development, and social progress. Evidently, sport has been one of the key pillars for implementing this vision. In accordance with the 3rd National Development Strategy (NDS3) 2024-2030, Qatar aims to further cater to specialized demand segments within the booming sports tourism market. It is clear that the future of sport in Qatar is bright, so let’s embrace this year’s National Sport Day with pride for what the country has contributed to, and benefits from, sport at both the international and regional level.
Dr. Christos Anagnostopoulos is Assistant Professor in Sport Management, and Dr. Kamilla Swart-Arries is Associate Professor and Director: Sport and Entertainment Management at HBKU’s College of Science and Engineering.
