Up to now though, sport’s most glittering prizes have eluded it. In the 113 years since the Olympic Games were revived by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, neither they nor football’s World Cup have been staged in the Middle East.
 

The small but affluent Gulf state of Qatar in particular seems to have taken it upon itself to change that.
 

Last year, Qatar’s capital Doha was judged unlucky not to have made it onto the short-list of cities from which the International Olympic Committee last week selected the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
 

Now Qatar is one of 10 bidders, embracing 12 countries, competing to stage the 2022 World Cup.
 

With the likes of England, Russia, the US and Australia also in contention, Qatar will inevitably be seen as an outsider in the race.
 

Nevertheless, Hassan Al-Thawadi, the bid committee’s approachable 30-year-old chief executive evidently believes that Qatar can mount a powerful case for being entrusted with world football governing body FIFA’s flagship tournament.
 

"I believe that we will be presenting a very, very strong bid," Al-Thawadi argued when I spoke to him recently.
 

"In my opinion we have a unique bid," Al-Thawadi said. "And the magnitude of hosting a World Cup in the Middle East for the first time is not only significant but also very powerful. It has enormous positive associations.
 

"Having the World Cup in the Middle East would allow people to see and experience the essence of [the region’s] thought, culture, hospitality and progress, allowing them to gain a new and educated perspective on the Arab World. That's a strong message that FIFA can help bring to the world.
 

"Aside from that, Qatar has demonstrated itself over the past 10 years to be a very forward-thinking and sustainable nation.
 

"We hosted the Asian Games in 2006 and will be hosting the 2011 Asian Cup. We believe we have the ability to host a World Cup – and by 2022 our infrastructure and facilities will have developed even further."
 

It is clear – even if Al-Thawadi (pictured) appears reluctant for now to go into too much detail on the subject - that technological innovation will form an important plank of Qatar’s campaign platform, being used, I would guess, to try to assuage concerns about the Gulf state’s climate.
 

"We are looking at new, environmentally-friendly technologies that are quite unique," he told me.
 

"The World Cup would be a catalyst for speeding up a lot of these initiatives and we believe we can offer the rest of the world the benefits. For example, the cooling technology we are developing will benefit not only the state of Qatar but also other aspiring nations.
 

"Already, the Al Saad Stadium has a system installed that allows for the temperature in the stadium to be significantly lower than outside. We are looking at achieving a similar effect in training grounds and Fan-zones."
 

Qatar's wealth is clearly another asset – although Al-Thawadi, who is director of the legal department at the Qatar Investment Authority, a body with investments in Porsche, Volkswagen, Barclays Bank, the New York Stock Exchange and doubtless many others, appeared keen to ensure that this should not be misconstrued.
 

"We are in a position to provide a very well-funded World Cup," he said. "But the bid is not about throwing money into hosting the World Cup. We are doing it to encourage further development of our country and region."
 

FIFA is staging the contests for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups simultaneously and Qatar's strategy is interesting in that it is one of only two bidders to have decided against bidding for both competitions. Why was this?
 

"It shows how serious we are about the bid," he replied. "In 2018, we think we would be ready, but not as ready as in 2022. We are realistic. It is not a matter of just bidding for the sake of bidding. We want to demonstrate this commitment to FIFA."
 

Was it in part because Qatar assumed that the 2018 tournament would be awarded to Europe? (Under the rules of the contest, other candidates from the same continent as the eventual 2018 host would drop out of the race for 2022.)
 

"There is a lot of thought about where 2018 will go, but our focus was not related to that. It was on what we ourselves can offer."
 

The amount of travel can make the World Cup an exhausting proposition when staged by a country the size of Germany or Japan. So I could sympathise with Al-Thawadi when he argued that holding the tournament in a small country would have some advantages.
 

"If the World Cup came to Qatar, we believe it would be coming to the entire region," he said. "We are looking to bring this great competition here for the entire Middle East. People from Egypt, the Emirates, Kuwait, Syria and so on who have been unable to attend a World Cup previously, would be able to attend this one.
 

"Also, being compact has its advantages. Teams and fans won’t have to worry about getting hotel reservations in different cities a long way apart. Qatar is spacious enough for everybody to have enough room, but compact too. It is also an incredibly colourful and hospitable place with a love of community; this is an experience only a nation of our size can bring to the game. Qatar is the epitome of the global village."
 

It is hard for a small country to produce a truly top-class national football team. Qatar is ranked only 83rd in the world as I write this (admittedly only 10 places behind next year’s World Cup host South Africa). What steps could Qatar take to try to raise standards?
 

"We are all crazy about football in Qatar from the youngest kid to the oldest person," said Al-Thawadi, who played left-back in his youth team and is a great admirer of the Italian full-back Paolo Maldini.
 

"In terms of youth development, there are a lot of initiatives going on. I believe it is a matter of time."

Would Qatar consider "importing" top players from overseas in the way that a number of Middle Eastern countries have brought in top athletes, particularly from Africa, to represent them in international competition?

"There are already players - such as Sebastián Soria, a Uruguay-born forward who has played many times for Qatar's national team - who have come to Qatar, lived here for several years and gained citizenship," Al-Thawadi replied.

"So we do have players who have been nationalised, but we are not basing our development of the game of football on that."

Israel has had an improving team in recent years. Would they be welcome at a World Cup staged by Qatar?

"Any team that qualifies for the World Cup is welcome in Qatar."

What about Israeli fans?

"I don’t see it as being a difficulty. We are looking to host a World Cup. We are looking to create a unique experience for teams and fans. So the only considerations we will be looking at are those related to football."

The region is associated with tight restrictions on alcohol, yet drinking is part and parcel of European football culture. How would Qatar look to handle this potentially delicate issue, given that some fans might be in the country for weeks on end?

Al-Thawadi’s response emphasises that, while not part of Qatari traditions or culture, alcohol is both legal and "available in hotels and various locations".

"For the games, we anticipate having Fan-zones, in addition to the hospitality outlets, as designated serving areas."

Though Qatar cannot match the footballing history of an England or a Spain, it is on the same footing as them – and indeed five other bidders (Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States) – in one other important respect: it boasts, in Mohamed Bin Hammam, a member of FIFA’s 24-man Executive Committee, the body whose votes will determine the winner of both races.

Now it is Bin Hammam’s job, as AFC President, to pursue the interests of members of the Asian confederation and not just those of Qatar. Nonetheless, it should stand the Qatari bid in good stead that one of its citizens has such intimate knowledge of FIFA’s inner workings.

"Mohamed Bin Hammam is a supporter of the bid in his role as a Qatari citizen, there is no doubt about that," Al-Thawadi said.

David Owen is a specialist sports journalist who worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering last year's Beijing Olympics. An archive of Owen’s material may be found by Twitter users at www.twitter.com/dodo938