Qatar confirms its bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games

It's been in the air for several months. Qatar confirmed on Tuesday, July 22, that it is in discussions with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about organizing the 2036 Olympics. "We currently have 95 % of the sports infrastructure needed […] and we have a comprehensive national plan to have the facilities 100% ready " , boasted the head of the Qatari Olympic Committee and chairman of the bid committee, Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, in a statement.

The gas-rich state, host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, could become "the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to host the Olympic Games," Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said, according to the official news agency.

Since the new procedure for awarding the Olympic Games, inaugurated by the awarding of the 2032 Olympic Games to Brisbane in 2021 – an edition for which Qatar was already in the running – candidates are no longer required to make themselves known publicly, but instead conduct largely confidential discussions with the IOC, until the final validation of the session.

Former IOC President Thomas Bach, however, reiterated that he has a "double-digit number" of countries interested in hosting the 2036 and 2040 Summer Games, including India, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and Hungary, which are openly moving forward.

Due to continental rotation, after the 2024, 2028 and 2032 editions in Europe, North America and Oceania respectively, the next edition has a good chance of returning to Asia, unless it is the occasion for the first African Olympic Games in history.

Deciding on the host of the 2036 Olympic Games will be one of the first major projects for the new IOC President, Kirsty Coventry, who took office on June 23. She has already begun a process of considering how the host will be chosen, particularly to determine the "right time" for this decision: long fixed at seven years before the deadline, it is now no longer subject to any rules.