15 Aug 2014
Dubai to bid for Olympic Games 'within next eight years'
BY Tom Walker
Ali Omar, director of Dubai Sports Council, has stated that the emirate is planning to launch a bid to host the Olympic Games "within the next eight years"- possibly targeting the 2024 or 2028 Summer Games.
Speaking to local media, Omar said submitting a bid was very much "on the agenda".
"Hosting the Olympics is a dream," he said. "We hope to submit such a bid within the next eight years, God willing."
In November 2013, the United Arab Emirates won the right to host the World Expo in Dubai in 2020 – the first time the expo will be held in the Middle East, North Africa or South Asia.
According to Omar, Dubai’s successful Expo bid – and Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup – has raised the profile of the Gulf region as a destination for major events.
"Qatar’s move put professional sports in the whole Gulf Arab region in the focus of the world’s attention," Omar told Khaleej Times.
"Further, Dubai winning the bid to host Expo 2020 definitely brings more world attention to this part of the world."
The Dubai bid has already garnered support from sports leaders - former International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge and Lord Coe are among those to have voiced their support for a Dubai bid.
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