This archive report was first published on 2 October 2019.
On the opening days of the World Championships in Doha, Qatar, empty seats at the Khalifa Stadium drew criticism from several athletes. However, IAAF President Sebastian Coe played down the issue, emphasizing the quality of performances on the track.
Published on October 2, 2019, Coe stated, "We want a full stadium and that has to be the challenge but we need to focus also on the absolute quality of what we are seeing here."
He pointed to the impressive performances in the 800m final won by Donavan Brazier and the 400m hurdles battle won by Norway's Karsten Warholm as examples of the high level of competition.
While crowds have improved since the low attendances of last weekend, Coe acknowledged that regional tensions had affected the championships. Qatar has been boycotted by its neighbors, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and their allies, who have restricted air, land, and shipping routes, closed airspace to Qatari aircraft, and restricted citizens from visiting.
"It was always going to be a challenge and this is a country that has to deal with a set of circumstances that none of us foresaw five years ago when Qatar was given the chance of hosting it," Coe said.
He added that the IAAF would continue to seek out new venues for the championships, rather than rotating through traditional European strongholds of track and field. "If we're a global sport, we have to be seen as global," Coe said. "There are places which are going to take longer for us to go to but people have to believe this sport is theirs, it's not just rooted in a handful of European capitals."
