The Qatari capital was set to host the first Diamond League for the 2026 season.
The Doha Diamond League has been postponed from May 8 to June 19, “in the interest of the safety of athletes and spectators.”
In recent weeks, due to the war in the Middle East, the organizers have been monitoring the situation, and now it has been decided to postpone the meeting by a month.
That means Doha, which was supposed to open this year’s calendar, will now be sandwiched between the Bislet Games in Oslo on June 10 and Paris on June 28, making the Qatari capital the eighth round of this year’s Diamond League.
The Diamond League says it will “continue to monitor developments in the Middle East in the coming weeks” and that “conditions permitting” it will be held on June 19.
With temperatures often exceeding 40C in Qatar in June, the match was moved from the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium to the temperature-controlled Khalifa International Stadium.
Khalifa International Stadium last hosted the Diamond League in 2019, the same year Doha hosted the World Athletics Championships.
After the United States and Israel launched large-scale strikes on Iran in February, several major sporting events were postponed or canceled. Formula 1 canceled the Bahrain and Saudi Grand Prix weekends, while the Finalissima between Argentina and Spain, which was due to take place in Doha this month, was also cancelled.
With the schedule changes to the Diamond League calendar, this means the series will now begin in Shanghai/Keqiao on May 16. The final will be held in Brussels on September 4-5.
Given that Doha is now just a day before the start of this year’s British Athletics Championships (June 20-21), it also makes a British presence in the Qatari capital unlikely.
