Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) and Asian Athletics Association (AAA) president General Dahlan al-Hamad (left), Aspire Academy director general Ivan Bravo (centre) and QAF secretary general Mohamed al-Kuwari at yesterday’s press briefing to announce the first list of athletes for the upcoming IAAF Diamond League Doha 2014. The Doha leg will be held on May 9.
By Satya Rath/Doha
The IAAF Diamond League Doha, the opening event of the 14-leg annual series of track and field meetings, is into its fifth season now.
It replaced the 12-year-old IAAF Golden League in a bid to “enhance the worldwide appeal of athletics by going outside Europe for the first time”. The Diamond League showcases 32 individual disciplines, with a points scoring ‘Diamond Race’ which runs throughout the 14-meeting series.
Since the series began in 2010—with Doha getting the rights to host the traditional opening leg—it has been successful in attracting the world’s leading athletes through appearance fees and a generous $480,000 prize fund for each leg, while athletes who win the overall title in their discipline receive an extra $40,000 cash prize besides a glittering Diamond Trophy.
Yet, despite its success, the series has failed to find a title sponsor since South Korean electronics giant Samsung, which sponsored the Diamond League for the first three years, withdrew last year owing to the global meltdown.
The Doha event too has been experiencing a similar apathy from the sponsors, despite managing to attract some of the best names in track and field year after year. We are just 53 days away from the opening leg of the 2104 series —to be held at the Qatar Sports Club on May 9—but there’s no sign of a title sponsor for the one-day event yet.
“It’s very sad. Athletics is one sport that is getting us global medals, yet companies are unwilling to come forward. They are willing to sponsor other sports events where we have no global champions, nor any chance of landing medals, but not athletics. I wonder why”
“It’s very sad. Athletics is one sport that is getting us global medals, yet companies are unwilling to come forward. They are willing to sponsor other sports events where we have no global champions, nor any chance of landing medals, but not athletics. I wonder why,” asks an aggrieved General Dahlan al-Hamad, the president of the Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) and Asian Athletics Association (AAA), on the sidelines of the Doha Diamond League press briefing yesterday.
Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim has been making waves across the world with his high-jump exploits in recent years. Barshim won the gold at last week’s World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland and also won the bronze at the 2012 London Games.
Another Qatari athlete, Femi Ogunode, won the 60m bronze at the Poland meet, making it two athletics medals for the country in a global competition for the first time ever.
“Doha is the only city in the entire Middle East to be hosting a Diamond League meeting. It’s a big honour for Qatar. Our athletes are doing so well, and we are doing our best to produce more and more world-class athletes.
“It’s high time the big companies realise that this is one sport that can get us Olympic and World medals. We would not like to beg before them; they should come forward on their own. I am sure it would be mutually beneficial,” the QAF president added.
QAF secretary general Mohamed al-Kuwari, who is also the marketing head of the Doha Diamond League, said they were in talks with many companies but nothing concrete has come out so far. “We are trying our best to rope in some sponsors. The Doha event sets the tone for the season, and has always attracted some of the biggest names in athletics. We are talking to a few potential sponsors and hope that we shall have some positive news soon,” al-Kuwari said.
On the occasion, a deal was inked with Aspire Academy to be an active partner of the Doha Diamond League. “Aspire has not come in as a sponsor, but as a partner of the QAF. We hope it will be a fruitful association that will benefit athletics in general and athletes in particular in Qatar,” said Ivan Bravo, director general of Aspire Academy.
