page_title: 2019 World Athletics Championships
section_title: Host selection
hierarchical_section_title: 2019 World Athletics Championships / Organisation / Host selection
caption_attribution_description: English: Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, during the 2011 Prefontaine Classic
context_page_description: The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations, since renamed World Athletics. It was held between 27 September and 6 October 2019 in Doha, Qatar, at the renovated multi-purpose Khalifa International Stadium, but reduced to 21,000 available seats. 1,772 athletes from 206 teams competed in 49 athletics events over the ten-day competition, comprising 24 events each for men and women, plus a mixed relay. There were 43 track and field events, 4 racewalking events, and 2 marathon road running events. The racewalking and marathon events were held in Doha Corniche.
  It was the first edition of the competition under its modified name, having previously been known as the World Championships in Athletics, and the last held before the IAAF assumed its new identity as World Athletics. It was also the first time the competition was in the Middle East and also the first time it ended in October. Due to the hot climate, there were no morning sessions and events were held in the late afternoon onward.
context_section_description: Three cities entered the bidding process to host the event. Assessment of the bids was carried out by the IAAF Evaluation Commission, which consisted of three IAAF Council Members (IAAF Vice President Sebastian Coe, Abby Hoffman and Katsuyuki Tanaka), three IAAF Office members (Essar Gabriel, Nick Davies, Paul Hardy) and public relations staff from Dentsu (Junko Shiota, Ryo Wakabayashi) and marketing staff from Athletics Management & Services (Nigel Swinscoe).
  Both Doha and Eugene are hosts of IAAF Diamond League meetings. Doha had previously applied for and failed to win the bid for the 2017 World Championships in Athletics, and had hosted the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a member of Qatar's ruling family, led the Doha bid. The bid was part of a movement among the leaders of Qatar to make the country a destination for international sports tourism, within the framework of the Qatar National Vision 2030, which included the hosting of global sports events, such as the 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m), 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and a Doha bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
  Eugene had hosted the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics. Barcelona hosted the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics and the 2010 European Athletics Championships, as well as the annual Míting Internacional d´Atletisme Ciutat de Barcelona. The final selection of the host city was carried out on 18 November 2014 in Monaco.
  Barcelona was eliminated in the first round of voting, receiving only six of the 27 votes, then Doha prevailed in the final round with fifteen votes to Eugene's twelve. IAAF President said that the Doha bid would develop the country and its community through sport. José María Odriozola, the president of the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation, said that the worst bid had won the vote and "the only thing they have there is money".
  The IAAF later awarded Eugene the hosting rights for the next championships, which was later moved to 2022 without submitting to a bidding process – a move which was criticised by European Athletics president Svein Arne Hansen as Gothenburg had been preparing a bid. This decision became subject to investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service. The head of the 2017 Evaluation Committee, Sebastian Coe, was investigated by the BBC for conflict of interest, as emails suggested he had lobbied IAAF President Lamine Diack in favour of the Eugene bid, while working for Nike, Inc. which was a key stakeholder in Oregon.
  In 2016, the French newspaper Le Monde claimed the selection of the host would have been paid with US$3.5 million transferred between October and November 2011 according to the US tax administration, to Papa Massata Diack, the son of Lamine Diack (former president of the IAAF). In 2019 The Guardian reported documents showing an agreement to pay US$4.5 million to Sporting Age, a Singapore-based company linked to Papa Massata Diack, in order to transfer the value of World Championships ticket sales and sponsorship to Qatari officials. In 2019, the French prosecutors charged some protagonists for corruption: the head of beIN Sports Yousef Al-Obaidly, the former president of IAAF Lamine Diack, and the head of Paris Saint Germain Nasser Al-Khelaifi. A French judge opened investigations into Dentsu and Athletics Management & Services in 2019, on the basis that the companies (which had been involved in the host evaluation) had played key roles in the diversion of funds to Papa Massata Diack.
  The selection of Doha as the host city was later criticised by numerous athletes present at the championships. Marathon fifth-placer Volha Mazuronak said organisers were disrespectful to athletes to make them compete in the conditions, and 50 km walk world champion Yohann Diniz was unhappy that the road events had not been located in the air-conditioned stadium instead. Decathlon world record holder Kevin Mayer said organisers had not prioritised athletes in respect of th
caption: Hayward Field, venue of the Eugene bid, which failed to win the 2019 hosting rights but was awarded the 2022 event.  The next event was to have been held in 2021, but the 2021 Summer Olympics rescheduling as a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic forced World Athletics to change the date a year on 30 March 2020.
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