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Spectators Few and Far Between at Short Course World Championships

Despite some of the world’s fastest swimmers competing this weekend in Abu Dhabi, many of the locals don’t seem to have taken a significant interest in the 2021 Short Course World Championships. Taking place in a temporary pool constructed in the 18,000 seat Etihad Arena, the stage was set for large crowds, though the spectators haven’t shown. SwimSwam’s Coleman Hodges, who is on the ground in Abu Dhabi, has estimated no more than a few hundred spectators seem to be in attendance for any of the sessions so far. 

The obvious culprit is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has ravaged the world now for almost two years and has been handled very differently by nations across the globe. To date, The United Arab Emirates is the most vaccinated country in the world, with over 92% of their population being fully vaccinated, according to the New York Times. The country also has one of the lowest COVID-19 transmission rates in the world, with less than 1 case per 100,000 people, also according to the New York Times. Despite those world-leading statistics, cases have been creeping up in the U.A.E. The current 14-day new case average sits at 135 cases for the country, over double the new case count from two weeks ago. 

COVID-19’s impact on attendance, however, seems less likely as a monolithic driver when digging a little deeper on both the nation’s policies and recent large-scale sporting events. Over the summer, The U.A.E instituted a nation-wide policy that all spectators for live events, including sports, be fully vaccinated and present a negative PCR test result within 48 hours of the event. This includes the SC Worlds, as well as last week’s Formula 1 race in Abu Dhabi, which appeared to have full stands of thousands of spectators on race highlights

A more interesting theory arises when comparing these championships to the 2019 Track and Field World Championships in Qatar, the U.A.E’s neighboring country. Two years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic, attendance was sparse in Doha and made international news for providing a significantly different environment than the 2017 championships, which were held in London.

In recent years, international sporting bodies have made a larger effort to host large-scale international events in these Arabian Peninsula countries, flush with oil money, state of the art venues and international tourist destinations. The most notable of these events is the next FIFA World Cup, set to kick off in Qatar in November 2022.

Despite the investments in these state of the art venues and events, thus far locals have seemed to steer clear of sporting events that do not have a strong foothold in countries like Qatar and the U.A.E. despite the international implications. While the World Cup has historically been the largest international sporting event in the world and figures to buck the trend set by both track and field and aquatics, it remains to be seen whether local Qataris will flock to the stadiums in droves as has been tradition for decades of World Cups. 

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Stoked 2 b vaccinated
2 years ago

Surprised James Foster didn’t get a mention in the write up 😳

Bevo
2 years ago

Seems like we could do better and have the meet where the stands could fill up and cheer on the competitors. I’m really proud of the swimmers who just focus on swimming fast, regardless of the number of people in the stands.
While the payouts are meager compared to golf and tennis, at least having it there allowed us to provide the payouts.

Ghost
2 years ago

Who makes the money from the gate? The host or FINA?
Did the host pay FINA to have the World champs?
This is why usa swimming doesn’t host these big meet very often…they are a huge expense and very little money coming in!

Mark Usher
Reply to  Ghost
2 years ago

I’m sure the hosts never expected to make any money from the gate. It’s just another part of Abu Dhabi’s aggressive national marketing & PR campaign.

PhillyMark
2 years ago

At least James Foster is there!

Awsi Dooger
2 years ago

92% fully vaccinated. Fantastic. When the population is that intelligent they aren’t going to jump out there and assume it’s fine to start screwing things up.

Roguecheck
2 years ago

Two other factors are the closeness to Christmas and a new ‘border’ check between Abu Dhabi and Dubai that is discouraging inter-country travel..

Wahooswimfan
2 years ago

Probably few, if any international visitors who might otherwise travel to attend – who wants to run the risk of being stuck abroad in quarantine?

Comet
2 years ago

Even less than tokyo where fans weren’t allowed. That’s what happens when u allow venues to buy events just to advertise their city to future tourists

Corn Pop
Reply to  Comet
2 years ago

So who were the candidates for this mega thrilling competition?

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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