Doha: Qatar is likely to bid for the 2019 Military World Games, it was revealed here yesterday.
Lieutenant Colonel Walter Borghino, President of Sports Committee at International Military Sports Council (CISM), said that top officials at Qatar Armed Forces and at Qatar Shooting and Archery Association (QSAA) are upbeat on the idea of hosting the multisport event organised every four years, one year before the Olympic Games.
The hosts of the 2019 Games will be announced in 2015, a good four years ahead of the games, at the General Assembly of CISM, the date and venue which is yet to be decided, informed Borginho.
“The bidding process will start next year. After receiving the bids, an evaluation commission will be appointed by CISM and based on the report of the commission, the Games will be awarded,” said Borghino.
“Mohammed bin Ali Al Ghanim Al Maadeed, President of QSAA and a Major General at Qatar Armed Forces has informed me that the paper work needed to set the process in motion has already started. Qatar is very much interested in hosting the 2019 Military World Games. Let’s see how many countries bid to host the (Military World Games),” said the CISM official, while talking to The Peninsula.
The multisports event is based on the CISM and Olympic spirit, without political, religious and racial consideration nor discrimination.
The 5th edition of the Military World Games was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2011.
Almost 7,000 athletes from roughly a hundred different countries came to compete in 23 sports in the Brazilian city. The CISM programme includes 26 sports on world level, and several other sports on continental and regional level.
Basketball, Parachuting, Boxing, Sailing, Cycling, Shooting, Equestrian, Skiing, Fencing, Swimming, Football, Taekwondo, Golf, Track & Field (Cross-country and Marathon), Handball, Triathlon, Judo, Volleyball (Beach Volleyball), Modern Pentathlon, Wrestling, Orienteering, Aeronautical Pentathlon, Naval Pentathlon and Military Pentathlon are some of the sports which feature in the list of events at the Military World Games. The first Military World Games were first held in Rome in 1995, followed by 1999 in Zagreb in Croatia.
The next two editions were held in Catania, Italy in 2003, while Indian city Hyderabad hosted them four years later.
The last games were held in Rio de Janiero, Brazil in 2011, while the next games are scheduled to be held in Mungyeong, Korea in 2015.
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