On 13 February, Doha’s Olympic committee travelled to Lausanne in Switzerland to submit its bid application to host the Olympic Games in 2020. Only five years previously, the city did not even make it to the shortlist in its attempt to host the 2016 games. A lot has changed since then.

In those five years, Qatar has capitalised on its vast natural gas reserves to achieve the world’s highest gross domestic product per capita. At the end of 2010, Qatar was selected to host football’s Fifa World Cup in 2022 on a pledge to spend $70bn on building infrastructure in preparation for the event. Doha is now aiming to become the first city to stage the world’s two largest sporting events consecutively.

While financing such an audacious bid will not be an obstacle for the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas exporter, the logistics of delivering what is required will be.

Doha will be able to use the $70bn-worth of transport and hotel infrastructure planned for the World Cup, with additional expenditure for the Olympic venues only amounting to an estimated $3bn. However, if it is successful in its Olympics bid, it will have to ensure most of the planned infrastructure schemes are finished two years earlier than originally planned.

Building $70bn-worth of infrastructure in 10 years for the World Cup is already regarded by many in the region’s construction sector as a stern challenge. Having to complete it in eight years would significantly increase the pressure on both clients and contractors.

It is not just the construction sector that would face challenges to deliver two events in two years, the country’s financial sector would also be stretched. Although most schemes will be funded by the state, with several international firms looking to enter the Qatari market in the next 10 years, banks will be under increasing pressure to provide bid and performance bonds.

After a quiet few years following the crash of Dubai’s real estate market, a challenge may be just what the region’s construction sector needs.