The influence of hosting an international sport event on the young generation: The case of Qatar

Abstract

International sport events have often been regarded as a development opportunity for their host countries. For Qatar, the Handball World Championship (HWC) of 2015 may be viewed as a step towards hosting the FIFA World Cup of 2022. The aim of this study was to measure the non-economic impact of the HWC on the young generation of Qatar, all nationalities included. A scale developed by Kim and Walker (2012) based on Crompton’s (2004) ‘psychic income’ paradigm, provided the framework to measure the psychological impact of the HWC 2015 on young residents of Qatar. Following an initial validation process, a revised Arabic translation of the questionnaire was administered by email to students of Qatar University after the event ended. 232 responses were received. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the five key constructs identified in the model for use with this sample and the analysis was undertaken using a revised instrument with the 30 original items reduced to 22 and a goodness of fit index (GFI) of 85 which was found to be an improvement on the original model. Support was found for three hypotheses, that: the event had generated a positive impact on the young generation resident in Qatar; the impact had been greater on those of Qatari nationality than those of non-Qatari nationality, and; the act of hosting the event had served to support the Qatari national vision and mission.