Qatar expands sporting influence with multimillion-dollar horse racing deal

CNN  — 

Qatar, a small nation with big oil revenues and even bigger ambition, continues to pour cash into the sporting world.

Already a key backer of British horse racing’s most prestigious events, it has extended this investment with a new multimillion-dollar, nine-year deal.

QIPCO, a private investment company in Qatar, became the official sponsor of the British Champions Series in 2011, the climax of which is the British Champions Day at Ascot, the richest day’s horse racing in the UK worth £4 million ($6.2 million).

With Qatari backing, prize money in the 35-race series has raised by 50% to £17.4 million ($27 million) this season.

Under the new extended deal, the plan is to turn the prize pot for British Champions Day to £5 million ($7.7 million) by 2024, while prize money for the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas will rise to £500,000 each, while QIPCO will also continue its sponsorship of Ascot Racecourse until 2024.

“As a private, family-run investment company, we are privileged to have built an association with world-renowned events such as Royal Ascot and British Champions Series, the very best of British racing,” QIPCO chief executive Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdullah Al Thani said in a statement Wednesday.

“Our sponsorship of the sport has benefited our bloodstock operation and increased the country’s international profile. We are proud to support British racing and its wonderful heritage.”

British Champion Series chief executive Rod Street added: “This is very positive for British racing. British Champions Series seeks to promote some of the sport’s greatest assets and, since QIPCO’s involvement in 2011, we have seen significant improvement in the investment in our top races and a big increase in prize money.”

Growing stable of sporting events

The increased investment is the latest in Qatar’s ever-widening sports portfolio, most notable of which is the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The ongoing corruption scandal that has engulfed football’s world governing body has led to speculation that Qatar, awarded hosting rights in 2010, could be stripped of the 2022 tournament if allegations of bribery in the voting process are proven.

FIFA said Tuesday that there are no grounds to strip either Qatar or 2018 host Russia of football’s showpiece event.

And last week Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy was equally bullish.

“The recent events at FIFA will not impact on our preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” it said in a written statement.

Qatar’s other horse racing tie-ins include a lucrative sponsorship of Europe’s richest event, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – contested at Paris’ Longchamp racecourse every October.

In addition, it owns French football side Paris St. Germain through the Qatar Investment Authority, while European champion Barcelona boasts a sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways worth an estimated £45 million ($70 million) a season.

This year Qatar will host the respective world athletics and amateur boxing championships, and in 2016 it will stage the road cycling world championships.

Read: Qatar gallops towards hosting world-class horse race

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