Sheikh Ahmad, a Kuwaiti, had revealed in an interview that he had been told they were going to bid but that nothing had been officially announced yet.

But a spokesman for the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) insisted that the Sheikh's claim on the eve of the OCA General Assembly was premature, even though Doha had promised as long ago as August 2008 that they would bid.

"No decision has been made yet," he told insidethegames.

"We are still discussing the situation with the QOC and the Government."

Doha bid for the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics but were controversially cut from the short-list because their proposed dates were outside the window that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had published.

They claimed that IOC President Jacques Rogge had led them to believe that they could host the Games outside the window, just as Sydney had done in 2000.

The IOC have changed the criteria for this contest and any cities who propose to hold the Games outside the normal Olympic window of between July 15 and August 31 have until July 29 to make their intentions known - which means that time is against Doha. 

The dates issue is a particularly sensitive one following FIFA's controversial decision last year to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar and the subsequent calls to move the tournament from its traditional June/July slot to January to avoid the scorching summer heat in the Middle East.

Another factor which could sway Qatar's decision is that they are still recovering from the criticism they received following their successful World Cup bid, which saw them be accused of corruption, claims were subsequently turned out to be false.

But the desire to stage major events remains strong.

They are already hosting the 2015 World Handball Championships and are among the contenders for the 2017 World Athletics Championships, a bid that is looking increasingly strong in view of the problems London is having securing the future of the Olympic Stadium.

Ultimately the decision as to whether they bid will probably come down to the fact as to whether they believe they can win against a field which so far includes only two guaranteed starters - Madrid and Rome - but is set to also include Istanbul and Tokyo.

"When we have made up our minds we will make an official announcement," said the QOC spokesman.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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March 2010: Sport is part of Qatar's vision claims Sheikh Saoud
August 2008: Doha to bid for 2020 Olympics but could hit new problems
June 2008: Doha misses on short-list for 2016 as IOC selects four cities