ABSTRACT
This chapter explores sports as a branding factor, which supports the evocation of specific images about the UAE, Qatar and Oman. These images include expectations about at least two domains. The first is the place, that is, the town, the country or the region and its natural, cultural or socio-economic characteristics, including its potential to meet global standards in sports. The second domain is a particular kind of sport such as golf, a specific location such as Dubai Sports City or a particular sport event such as the Asian Beach Games, which have to be designed with at least a minimum of recognizable features. When Qatar organized the fifteenth Asian Games in December 2006, its capital Doha proved to be a perfect host to athletes from 45 countries competing in 39 sports. Brorman Jensen described Dubai's expoized character in contrast to the understanding of a city as a conglomeration of supposedly naturally developed neighbourhoods.
