MALMO: Though the temperature outside had reached sub-zero levels, the battle between Qatar and France heated up inside the conference hall of the Hilton Malmo in Sweden. In the end, Qatar came out with flying colours, warding off a strong challenge from France, in the bid race for the 2015 Men's Handball World Championship.
The country's delegation, led by Qatar Olympic Committee Secretary General Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, was in full attendance when International Handball Federation (IHF) President
Dr Hassan Moustafa announced the men's and women's host nations for the 2015 world championship.
Denmark was the sole bidder for the women's championship. Then came the turn of Qatar, which won the secret ballot in the first round. Norway and Poland we also in the race, but France offered a stiff resistance to Qatar.
Twelve of the 17 members of the IHF cast their votes. The IHF president and council members from the bidding nations (two from France and one from Norway) abstained from voting while one representative from Africa could not make it to the poll. The four bidding nations made a 30-minute presentation before the council members ahead of the voting. Dr Hassan described Qatar's presentation as the best.
"All four bidders had the potential to host a successful World Championship, but the IHF Council had to choose the best of them, so Qatar," said Dr Hassan.
The IHF chief added: "Qatar impressed the most with its final presentation and greatly succeeded in addressing all issues concerning the championship. And we thought it better to award the 2015 event to Qatar."
Sheikh Saoud was elated as he spoke of the success.
© The Peninsula 2011
