Dubai Bid to Host Summer Olympic Games in Next Eight Years

Drawing inspiration from Qatar, Dubai plans on expanding its sports facilities across the Emirate, and is making a bid to host the Summer Olympic games within the next eight years.

Commenting on the planned bid, Ali Omar, director of the sports development department at the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) said: "Hosting the Olympics is a dream. We hope to submit such a bid within the next eight years, God willing."

Omar cites Qatar's win to host the FIFA 2022 World Cup as a game-changing strategy for the region.

"Qatar's move has brought the world's attention to professional sports in the whole Gulf Arab region," said Omar.

At present, the Dubai Sports City, set on 50 million square feet, offers a 25,000-seat capacity cricket stadium, an 18-hole championship golf course and several Academy campuses, that upon completion, will offer globally recognized training.

In the past, Dubai has played host to several international sports competitions, such as the Dubai Duty free Tennis Championships, the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier cricket series and the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals of Table Tennis.

Next in line, Dubai is set to host the 5<sup>th Dubai International Parachuting Championship that will take place from 26 November to 7 December 2014.

The next Summer Olympic Games will be held in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.

The bidding process to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games will begin in 2015 and the winning bid will be announced in 2017. Several interested bidders have come forward so far, including Berlin and Paris.