Qatar has expressed an interest in hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032.

The Gulf state, which will host football’s World Cup in 2022, bid for the 2016 and 2020 Games.

The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) has requested to join the “non-committal continuous dialogue” on hosting.

QOC president Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani said there would now be a “meaningful dialogue” with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Countries interested in hosting the Games must engage in a continuous dialogue with the IOC before the process moves to ‘targeted dialogue’ with one or more preferred hosts.

Australia, Spain and India are among others to have expressed an interest in hosting the 2032 Games so far.

“Never before has an Olympic Games been held in the Middle East,” said Al-Thani.

“The Olympic rings are a symbol of peace, unity and hope for people around the world, including the people of our region.”

The Qatari government was criticised in a recent United Nations report for its treatment of migrants working on infrastructure projects.

The report found there was “structural racism” in the country and found that “European, North American, Australian and Arab nationalities systematically enjoy greater human rights protections than South Asian and sub-Saharan African nationalities”.

The United Nations did point to some “impressive reforms” in the country and in response to the criticism, the Qatari government said it was preparing to “introduce new sweeping labour reforms”.

The rescheduled 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games are due to take place in Tokyo next summer, with Paris hosting the 2024 event and Los Angeles staging it four years after that.

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