The 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the 14th edition of the global-level indoor track and field competition and was held between March 9–11, 2012 at the Ataköy Athletics Arena in Istanbul, Turkey.

In November 2007 at an IAAF Council meeting in Monaco, Doha was selected to host the 2010 edition, but due to the quality of the Istanbul bid, the Turkish city was chosen to host the following edition of the competition in 2012.

Previously, the highest level events that the country had hosted included the Athletics at the 2005 Summer Universiade and lower-level sections of the European Cup/European Team Championships.

[4] The initial bid featured the Dome as the host stadium, but the venue was later changed as the Sinan Erdem Dome was host to the 2010 FIBA World Championship in the months before the event.

The construction of the Ataköy Arena was behind schedule, leading to the cancellation of some tester events, meaning that the Turkish Indoor Championships in late January was the first competition to be held there.