Nation-state strategies for human capital development: the case of sports mega-events in Qatar

The paper makes an original contribution to knowledge in three ways. First, through interviews with experts in Qatar, we uncover the role major sports events seek to play in the development of Qatar’s indigenous population. Our findings show that, alongside seeking to achieve various international objectives, these events are also intended to have a positive impact on the state’s human capital development at home. Specifically, in this regard, there is a desire to use sports events to address issues related to the health of Qataris, and to try to engage citizens in a process of maturity, whereby they are encouraged to confront the outside world, and become less reliant on the state. Second, our paper adds to understanding the role of aspirations, motivation and ambition in the human capital development process, which, as we show, is an area to which a growing literature is devoted. Third, the paper is the first academic analysis to provide insight into how sports events can be used in an attempt to overcome the ‘resource curse’, referring to the evidential long-term human capital development deficiencies that are commonly experienced by natural resource-rich states across the Middle East, Asia and Africa.