The comments were clearly praising the appetite for hosting cycling events in Yorkshire which, spearheaded by Sir Gary Verity, welcomed the Tour de France Grand Depart in 2014 and has delivered three well attended editions of the spin-off Tour de Yorkshire. With respect to the British county, the statements made were predominantly a reflection on the frustration felt during this year’s event in Doha, which being held in front of a handful of spectators.

It is the desert, after all.

The response of those watching has been entirely predictable, with fans opposed to the idea claiming one of the highlights of the season has been "sold out", with an increased purse the priority over excellent conditions. Their views seem to be in direct contrast to the governing body, albeit their position four years ago.

Rather than focusing on the racing, UCI President Brian Cookson appears to have spent the majority of the week having to defend the decision to hold the Championships in the Qatari capital, with the lack of spectators and concerns over high temperatures the key complaints. Cookson, though not the UCI President at the time of the award back in 2012, was a member of the UCI Management Committee at the time. He has claimed it was important to take the Championships to the region.

"There is a lot interest in supporting, funding and sponsoring cycling by way of running events here or sponsoring and running teams," he told cyclingnews. "I think it is fair to say that this is a part of the world where interest in our sport is growing. It is still relatively small in terms of the number of spectators on the roadside but we are here."

Ultimately finances appear to have played the main role in the Championships heading to Doha, with the Briton indicating there was a price tag of around CHF10 million (£8.2 million/$10 million/€9.2 million).

It is obvious that all International Federations (IFs) are trying to maximise the amount of money they can make from their flagship competitions and to an extent, so they should.

In recent years, the International Basketball Association (FIBA) have opted to spread EuroBasket to four different host cities, while European football’s governing body UEFA made a similar move for the 2020 European Championships. It remains to be seen whether these formats prove successful in the long run, but the financial opportunities of having multiple hosts appear obvious.

There comes a point, however, where the IFs appear to be on the verge of damaging what they would determine to be their flagship product in pursuit of a financial boost.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed earlier this week that he would push on with plans to increase the size of the World Cup to either 40 or 48 teams, rather than the 32 that currently compete.

As my colleague Liam Morgan pointed out last week, the biggest concern from the many who watch the game will be the possible dilution of quality of the competition.

The proposed increase comes with the claim that it would inspire more young people to take up the sport, giving countries involved "football euphoria" alongside the offer of more sponsorship opportunities. 

The latter may certainly be true, with the first two appearing to be mere platitudes to justify the possible grab of further financing. More cynical views have looked on the potential increase in teams as an attempt to gain favour ahead of future FIFA elections.

Despite the plans having been met with opposition from a large number of fans and several former players, it looks inevitable that the expansion will go ahead.

It is here where further attention needs to be paid to what those who actually watch sport want. The vast majority would not be opposed to sporting organisations raking in large sums in the event that the spectacle they are witnessing is well attended and of a high enough standard.

This was one of the key points touched upon at the Smart Cities & Sport Summit, which I attended in Lausanne earlier this week. 

The attendees were representatives of cities who were interested in bidding to host major international sporting competitions and they were urged to acknowledge the importance of informing the public of the reasoning for holding a particular event.

They were also encouraged to think creatively to try to maximise the potential of an event they will host. One conversation I had during the three days was with a representative from Helsinki, who informed me that their proposal to hold some competitions at the upcoming Nordic Skiing World Championships in the centre of their city had been turned down, with all the competitions taking place in Lahti.

Surely for the benefit of giving the general public more of an opportunity to access the sport, it would have made sense to take it to as many people as possible by shifting some events to the capital. Instead they have insisted that all events are held in a more remote and far smaller location.

It often appears that the groundbreaking changes made by IFs do not need to be made to grow their sport in particular regions. 

Offering smaller events to areas that are keen to grow their sport is surely a better way to grow a fanbase, without potentially damaging the image of your major Championships.

Vast numbers of Championships are awarded throughout the year, with governing bodies normally claiming that the location they have chosen is the perfect host and will help continue the growth of the sport.

While I am sure the majority of locations will provide fan sites, it would be fascinating for governing bodies to express their plans for boosting the appetite for their sport in a particular region or country, when presenting them with an event. It would provide fans, the main stakeholders in the sport, with some genuine reasoning when a competition is awarded.