Qatar selected to host 2019 World Athletics Championships

The International Association of Athletics Federation awarded the 2019 World Athletics Championships to Doha, Qatar, over Barcelona, Spain, and Eugene, Oregon.

The International Association of Athletics Federation awarded the 2019 World Athletics Championships to Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday. 

Doha beat out Barcelona, Spain, and Eugene, Ore., for the right to host the games.

Doha is the first Persian Gulf city to host the track and field championships and was seen as the frontrunner to host after losing out to London for the 2017 championships.

Qatar had previously been selected to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, leading to concerns about the athletes health because of the region's high temperatures in the summer. 

"I am sure that in Doha we will have a wonderful edition of the World Championships. I am convinced they are committed through sport to developing their country and their community, and they are doing the right things," IAAF President Lamine Diack said.

The event will be staged from Sept. 28-Oct. 6, 2019.

A Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch ripped the IAAF's decision to select Qatar, saying it showed the federation's “callous indifference” to workers’ rights in Qatar.

“If Qatar had shown any signs of making significant reforms to its labour system then this decision could have represented just reward for Qatar’s progress, but as it stands it looks like the IAAF has just given its seal of approval to Qatar’s callous indifference," Nicholas McGeehan said, according to the Guardian.

The 2015 World Athletic Championships will be held in Beijing next August.