Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
THE Gulf region is becoming the centre of attention for sports lovers ... if January's list of events is anything to go by.
A region that once begged for attention from international sports bodies is now bursting with eager suitors.
They are emissaries along the new silk road of sports. In little more than a decade, the Gulf's wealth and boundless ambitions have lured big-name events and A-list athletes, while the region's leaders have developed a reputation as inspired hosts - still hungry for more.
"We go to new lands," FIFA president Sepp Blatter said after announcing Qatar's surprise selection for the 2022 World Cup. He also recently visited the kingdom to inaugurate the Bahrain Football Association's pair of artificial turf pitches and celebrate the construction of a state-of-the-art service building adjacent.
"The geography of sports is changing," said Ahmad Mohammed Al Rahoomi, international spokesman for the Dubai Sports Council, during a gathering of sports officials from around the world. "When people used to think of this region it was only oil. Now they are starting to think of sports." In reality, one feeds off the other. The staggering oil and gas wealth powers the sports boom. And, the more the events shift to the booming region, the more money is set aside to try to get more.
How's this for an expected guest list: Nadal, Roger Federer and other top men's tennis players in Abu Dhabi and Doha; Asia's top soccer teams in Doha for a continent-wide tournament; Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson at the Abu Dhabi golf championships; Colin Montgomerie and Europe's other Ryder Cup champions in Bahrain; rising Kenyan marathon star Eliud Kiptanui in Dubai. That's just the calendar for January.
