By: Ayodeji Victor
Doha: The Wanda Diamond League has postponed the Doha leg of the 2026 season from May 8 to June 19 due to safety concerns in the region.
The Mazzraty Doha Meeting, originally scheduled to open the 2026 series at the Qatar Sports Club, will now take place at the temperature-regulated Khalifa International Stadium on June 19, subject to conditions allowing.
In recent weeks, the Diamond League has closely monitored the situation in Doha in coordination with meeting organisers, Qatari authorities and other stakeholders. The decision to postpone was taken in the interests of athlete and spectator safety.
With higher temperatures expected in June, organisers opted to relocate the event to Khalifa International Stadium, which successfully hosted both the Diamond League and the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships. The venue’s advanced cooling system will ensure safe competition for athletes even in warmer conditions.
The rescheduled date positions the Doha meeting as the seventh or eighth leg of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League, falling between the Bislett Games in Oslo on June 10 and the Meeting de Paris on June 28. The series is now set to begin in Shanghai/Keqiao on May 16 and conclude with the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels on September 4-5.
The Diamond League will continue to monitor developments in the Middle East over the coming weeks. Organisers and the series remain fully committed to delivering the highest standards of safe and secure competition for athletes, media and spectators alike.
The Wanda Diamond League is the world’s premier one-day athletics series, featuring 15 prestigious meetings across four continents. It offers athletes in 32 disciplines the opportunity to compete regularly at the highest level and accumulate points to qualify for the season-ending final.
In 2025, the series attracted 400,000 spectators to iconic venues and reached a global audience through broadcasts in 170 countries, along with strong digital engagement of more than one billion impressions and 900 million video views.
