Qatar and sports talent migration strategy: Impacts on national team performance at the Asian Athletic Championships

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to test the determinants of Qatar’s 1998-2017 performances at the Asian Athletic Championship based on GDP per capita, hosting capacity, and number of migrant sports talents. Using publicly available archival data, the study adopted a single case study design with the help of association and predictive statistics. The findings indicated that the number of migrant athletes was the greatest contributor of Qatar’s performance at the Asia Athletic Championships. There was also a positive and statistically significant relationship with the number of migrant sports talents with GDP per capita and hosting capacity. The findings have vast implications for sports talent migration policy and international competition strategies. Sports personnel (administrators, managers, coaches and policy advocates) will add to their understanding and appreciation that sports talent migrant is also a recent and overlooked strategy for boosting international sports performances. This is one of the first studies to investigate the impact of sports talent migration at the Asia Athletic Championships – indicating that talent migration is also another valuable strategy in archiving national team success (Omondi-Ochieng, 2017b; Allan & Moffat, 2014; Omondi-Ochieng, 2014b; Berlinschi et al., 2013; Frick, 2009; Baur & Lehmann, 2007; Gelade & Dobson, 2007) similar to having talented coaches, excellent training facilities, positive sporting culture and robust funding amongst others.

Keywords: Qatar, sports talent migration, Asian Athletics Championships