Doha Asian Games organisers are promising to deliver the best event ever, writes Mike McGrath
Doha 2006 Asian Games organisers readily admit that the word ambitious barely begins to describe the enormity of the challenge facing them in ensuring 'the best-ever Games'.
'We like to view it [the opportunity of staging the Games] as the 'mouse that roared',' is how Patrick Furlong, director, broadcasting and media services of the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee (Dagoc), visualises the task awaiting the smallest nation yet to host the biggest-ever Asian Games.
The tiny Gulf state, with an estimated population of 815,000 people, will host 10,000 athletes and officials from 45 nations participating in a record 40 sports, more than 4,500 print and broadcast media plus up to half a million projected spectators.
It adds up to what the organisers say is the second-biggest sporting event in the world, surpassed only by the Olympic Games. Qatar will be the first country in the Middle East to host the Asian Games and the first West Asian hosts since Tehran 31 years ago.
'The implications extend far beyond sport,' Furlong said, ahead of the spectacular New Year's Eve launch of the Mascot, the Torch and the 700-day Countdown to the Games, that illuminated the Doha Corniche.
The 15th Asian Games run from December 1-15 and will be a compact affair with 21km the farthest distance that athletes will be required to travel to any event from the Games Village.