Doha: The Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) will today hand over in Lausanne the bid file to host either the 2021 or 2023 FINA World Championships.
Officials at the QSA said that the Qatar file has been prepared for a long time and expressed their confidence that they will be a strong match to Japan and China.
President of the QSA Khaleel Al Jabir (pictured) had met in Doha lately with FINA officials to discuss the Qatari bid and their interest in staging the event. Al Jaber said that the bid was endorsed by President of Qatar Olympic Committee H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani.
Doha hosted the World Short-Course Championships in December 2014.
The International Swimming Federation (FINA) will choose the host cities for the 2021 and 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest on January 31. It will coincide with World Aquatics Gala and Award Dinner due to be held in the Hungarian capital on the same day.
The decision will be announced after the first meeting of the year of the ruling FINA Bureau.
Last June, FINA confirmed it had received expressions of interest from seven countries for the Championships, including Argentina and Turkey, neither of which have hosted the event before.
Melbourne, hosts in 2007, is one of two Australian cities interested along with Sydney, while Wuhan and Nanjing, which staged the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games, are in the mix for China.
There are ‘two potential’ unnamed cities from Germany, according to world swimming’s governing body, as well as interest from Japan.
Australia has hosted the Championships three times, in 1991, 1998 and 2007. Germany, Japan and China were the organisers in 1978, 2001 and 2011 respectively.
Budapest had originally been selected for the 2021 competition, but its hosting was brought forward to 2017 after Mexican city Guadalajara pulled out last February due to falling oil prices.
Gwangju, the South Korean city which hosted last year’s Summer Universiade, is due to host the 2019 edition of the biennial event.
The Peninsula
