Stadium resolution has boosted chances of winning world bid

Ed Warner has been in touch with many of the 27 IAAF council members who will vote between London and Doha, the capital of Qatar, and says the bid is now “in really good shape”.

Warner, speaking after a face-to-face meeting with IAAF vice-president Sergey Bubka, said: “Having the stadium issue completely resolved has been very important to us in the last few weeks.

“There are 27 people entitled to vote, most of them are seasoned, experienced hands at this and we are aiming to meet or speak to every single one of them.

“The debate has shifted from the stadium to ‘tell us about your bid’, and I think we are in really good shape but we can’t be complacent.

“We now have the right platform to demonstrate the commercial qualities of the bid, the legacy and the athlete dimension which will see ideal conditions for them to break records in a world championships.”

Warner, chairman of UK Athletics, admits that Doha, with Qatar’s financial muscle behind the bid, are “doughty opponents” with a proven track record of winning bids, including the 2022 football World Cup.

He added: “They staged great indoor championships recently and are a new, virgin territory. That’s something we have to counter with arguments that we have in terms of legacy and being sure of filling the stadium morning and evening with fans from multi-cultural London.

“We can also maximise the commercial and broadcast revenues available in this time zone, in August, in western Europe.

“If the championships were to be away from Europe for at least six years that’s a long stretch away from the bread-basket of the sport.”