Having staged the World Short-Course Championships at Doha’s Hamad Aquatic Centre in December, the Arabian Peninsula nation is keen to bring FINA’s flagship event to it shores for the first time.

Qatar faces competition from Argentina and Turkey, neither of whom have hosted the event before, as well as three-time hosts Australia, and Germany, Japan and China, organisers in 1978, 2001 and 2011 respectively.

Although FINA has not specifically named an interested host city for Qatar, it will almost certainly be the capital Doha given that it has been one of the stops on the Swimming World Cup series since 2012.

Doha also hosted the Festival of Aquatics late last year, including the 3rd FINA World Aquatics Convention, prior to the World Short-Course Swimming Championships.

Melbourne, hosts in 2007, is one of two Australian cities interested along with Sydney, while Wuhan and Nanjing, which staged last year’s Summer Youth Olympic Games, are in the mix for China.

There are also “two potential” unnamed cities from Germany harbouring hopes, according to world swimming’s governing body.

FINA states it is “naturally in discussions with each of the potential candidates and is providing them with all the necessary information to plan their proposals”. 

It hopes to announce the chosen host cities by the end of this year, before which an information meeting will be organised for the interested nations and cities on June 30. 

“We are delighted with the strong level of interest from a number of different cities who want to host swimming’s showcase event,” said FINA President Julio César Maglione.

“I believe that they are all attracted by the evidence that the FINA World Championships brings clear economic, social, cultural, tourism and sports impacts to every host city. 

“There is a measurable benefit through better youth and community facilities, through high-performance opportunities, and through showcasing your city to a global audience."

Budapest had originally been selected for the 2021 Games, but its hosting was brought forward to 2017 after Mexican city Guadalajara pulled out of hosting that particular edition in February, due to the falling oil prices, it claimed.

A total of 2,200 athletes from a record 188 countries have registered thus far for this year’s World Championships, due to take place in Russia for the first time from July 24 to August 9, in Kazan.

The 2019 edition is scheduled to take place in Gwangju, South Korea, host city of this year's Summer Universiade. 


Related stories
March 2015: Budapest to host 2017 rather than 2021 World Aquatics Championships
February 2015: Hungary and Singapore emerge as potential candidates to replace Mexico as 2017 World Aquatics Championship host
February 2015: Britain and US rule themselves out as 2017 World Aquatics Championship replacements but Australia may be interested
February 2015: Exclusive - Kazan 2015 will not be victim of economic crisis claim FINA in wake of Guadalajara withdrawal
February 2015: Mexico withdraws from hosting 2017 World Aquatics Championships due to fall in oil prices