DOHA, Nov 15, 2012 Agence France Presse: Doha will make a fresh bid to bring the Olympics to the Middle East for the first time in 2024, having missed out on the 2020 Games.
Gas-rich Qatar, named as surprise host for the 2022 football World Cup, failed to make the short-list for the 2020 Games, leaving Madrid, Tokyo and Istanbul in the running as the leading candidates.
But that has not deterred the country’s leaders, with Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, general secretary of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), announcing on Thursday the results of the Qatar Sports Venue Master Plan.
The plan is a two-year audit of the country’s 62 existing sports venues for usability and proposed 11 new ones, in addition to eight venues originally planned by the QOC.
“Our focus since the beginning of this project has been legacy and ensuring that we avoid white elephants,” Sheikh Saoud said.
“We have watched countries build large venues and struggle later with what to do with them; and our team has worked backwards, thinking first about how these venues can be of use in the future before planning their use during major sporting events.”
Abdul Rahman Al-Malki, director of engineering at QOC, added that “the plan was put into place with the Olympics 2024 in mind.”
Qatar ranked high in terms of technical ability in its bid for the 2020 Games, and also offered a degree of certainty in uncertain economic times.
But it has one insurmountable problem that hampers any bid — the harsh climate.
Temperatures in the Gulf country can soar to a blistering 45 degrees Celsius (113F) in July and August when the Games are usually held.
The IOC granted Doha’s bid the rare exception to possibly host the Games in October and November, when the weather is cooler.
Qatar to bid for 2024 Olympics
Qatar to bid for 2024 Olympics
Last-gasp penalty sends Atalanta past Dortmund and into last 16
- Dortmund’s Bensebaini was sent off after his studs caught the head of Atalanta’s Krstovic in the penalty area
- The hosts had to fight back following last week’s 2-0 loss in Germany
BERGAMO, Italy: Lazar Samardzic slotted home a stoppage-time penalty to complete a dramatic 4-1 victory for Atalanta over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, sending the Italian side into the Champions League’s last 16 with a comeback 4-3 aggregate triumph.
Dortmund’s Ramy Bensebaini was sent off after his studs caught the head of Atalanta’s Nikola Krstovic in the penalty area and Samardzic converted the spot kick in the 98th minute to send the Italians through. Atalanta will now face either Arsenal or Bayern Munich in the round of 16 with the draw on Friday.
The hosts had to fight back following last week’s 2-0 loss in Germany, and Gianluca Scamacca tapped in at the far post to give them a fifth-minute lead as they got off to a dream start.
Dortmund had their share of chances but it was their keeper, Gregor Kobel, who was busiest in the first half, twice denying Nicola Zalewski. He was beaten, however, on the stroke of halftime when Davide Zappacosta’s shot was deflected into the net off Bensebaini to make it 2-0.
Atalanta keeper Marco Carnesecchi made the save of the match when he tipped Serhou Guirassy’s low drive wide in the 49th minute, to protect their two-goal advantage. Dortmund went even closer in the 53rd with Maximilian Beier’s shot bouncing off the post.
Instead it was the hosts who scored again thanks to Mario Pasalic’s header at the far post to go 3-0 up and take control of the tie.
Dortmund, however, bounced back with substitute Karim Adeyemi adding instant pace to their game and curling his 75th-minute shot into the top corner as the visitors hoped to take the contest into extra-time.
Yet Bensebaini then tried to clear a cross in the box with a backheel but caught the head of Krstovic, who went down bleeding. The hosts were awarded a penalty following a lengthy VAR review and Samardzic beat Kobel to send his team through with the last kick of the game.
