Fans pose for photos outside the Al Bayt Stadium ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Group A match between Qatar and Ecuador, in Al Khor, Qatar on November 20, 2022. Photo:VCG

The engineer who developed the air conditioning for Qatar's 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums says that a cooling system for an Olympic marathon is possible if the Gulf state bids for the Games.

Amid reports that Qatar is targeting the 2036 Olympics, Saud Abdulaziz Abdul Ghani, widely known as Dr Cool, said Qatar has already "proven" its technological capability for 2022 FIFA World Cup and can repeat the feat for a new mega event.

The infrastructure for the 32-nation soccer tournament has been widely hailed, even if Qatar has faced its fierce summer temperatures that forced FIFA to change the dates to winter.

The wealthy Gulf state also held the world athletics championships in 2019. The athletics championship was held in the air-conditioned Khalifa stadium. But because of the daytime heat, the women's marathon started at midnight. 

The World Cup was moved to November-December to avoid the summer heat and Qatar could ask the International Olympic Committee to do the same to allow a first Olympics in an Arab nation, sports sources say.

Sports authorities have not commented, but Saud, an engineering professor at Qatar University, said an air-conditioned marathon course could be built.

"We have proven to the world that technologically we have the capability," Saud said referring to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

He has spent 13 years working on the cooling used at seven of the eight World Cup stadiums. He noted that Qatar's solar power more than makes up for the energy used and the air conditioning keeps the players and turf healthy. 

AFP