Speaking ahead of the Opening Ceremony of the Asian Games here tomorrow, the Kuwaiti official said that, if they were to bid, the cities would simply have to trust themselves to deliver a great event in the face of doubt and criticism.

A successful bid would also boost opportunities in a region in which sport is helping bring about positive change, he claimed.

"We are capable in many cities in the Middle East to host an Olympics - Dubai is ready, Doha is ready," he told Reuters.

"I know that not every city can host the Olympics.

"Only the main ones, and even they are always faced with difficulties, we can see this with Rio [2016], even until now there are problems."

Dubai hopes to launch an Olympic bid within the "next eight years" ©Getty Images



Although Dubai seriously considered launching campaigns for both the 2016 and 2020 editions, the United Arab Emirates city is yet to formally bid for the Olympics, and announced last July that it would not put itself forward for the 2024 version either.

But last month,Ali Omar, director of the Dubai Sports Council sports development department, claimed they are hoping to submit an Olympic bid within the next eight years.

Doha, meanwhile, bid for both the 2016 and 2020 Olympics but never made the shortlist, but is expected to be a candidate for 2024.

This comes despite storms of protests and corruption allegations surrounding Qatar's successful bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, accusations that Sheikh Ahmad, also President of the Association of National Olympic Committees and a leading powerbroker in the Olympic Movement, had previously slammed as racist. 

He has now admitted that an Olympic bid will be subject to similar criticism, speculating that "even if we host a birthday party there would be such a reaction".

"That is the tradition of the media," he added.

"For that we have to respect their thoughts but we have to trust ourselves that we can deliver a great event."

Doha and Dubai were both mooted as potential contenders to host the next edition of the Asian Games after Hanoi withdrew its hosting rights earlier this year, although neither eventually stepped forward, with Indonesia now poised to be awarded the Games.

But the presence of the two cities in future Olympic races would continue a strong period for Asia, with Pyeongchang and Tokyo already appointed hosts of the respective 2018 Winter and 2020 Summer Games, while Almaty and Beijing are two of the three candidates for the 2022 edition. 

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