It’s official. India wants to host the 2036 Olympics and Paralympics, but the big question is when and where. On Tuesday, news flew thick and fast, with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports being quoted first, India had submitted an official letter through the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). It was addressed to the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission. By late evening on Tuesday, the news was confirmed through a video posted by PT Usha, president, IOA, attesting that the National Olympic Committee had written in October 2024 to the IOC.
To start with, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the IOC session last year in Mumbai. He had spoken about India’s keenness to host the Summer Olympics as well as the Paralympics. He had again mentioned it to the Indian diaspora in New York a few months ago. India is very keen to host the Games. This is, indeed, fantastic news, but there has to be a proper bid document expressing intent and where the Olympics is to be held and how the host city will go through the process. A mere three-page letter sent by the IOA would serve very little purpose.
Anyone who has followed the Olympic Movement and how nations bid for the Summer Olympics is aware that the bid is made by a host city. There are elaborate plans, detailing how it will work and what will be the infrastructure put in place. More importantly, legacy value, how the Olympics will address climate change and more contentious issues like carbon emission levels are discussed. Above all, there is a strong push to cap the cost of the Games. If these are fine details, right now, nobody knows which city in India will be the host. It cannot be like this.
Since the time Motera in the outskirts of Ahmedabad was refurbished and rechristened as the Narendra Modi Stadium in 2021, right in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been murmurs that Ahmedabad will be the host city. Indeed, the renovated cricket stadium can be converted into a main stadium for the Olympics. There is plenty of real estate around, which can be developed for more stadiums as well. But the point is, nobody has officially mentioned Ahmedabad, or even Gandhinagar, as the host city. This lack of clarity on the Olympic host city is now being questioned abroad by those who have taken note of India’s interest.
Mind you, nobody is mocking India’s intent to host the Olympics. A lot has changed since the time India hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. The CWG was delivered well, but lawsuits, corruption cases, officials going to jail and more dirt grabbed the headlines after the Games ended. Even now, the Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies plus the main events like track and field makes news for the wrong reasons like the venue had been rented out for a music concert. Debris and dirt were left behind which came in for flak.
Surely, hosting an Olympics means the city has to be identified first. Take the case of Australia, when it wanted to host the Games in 2000. They came to know in 1993 that the showpiece event had been awarded to Sydney by the IOC. Indeed, Sydney did a great job, with public participation at an all-time high. Again, despite political differences in Brisbane, the stakeholders are planning in detail how they will host the Olympics in 2032. Australia is a sporting nation and plans well in advance. For that matter, even when the Victoria state decided it was not going to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, it informed the CGF (Commonwealth Games Federation) in 2023 itself.
India has the will to host an Olympics but no time can be wasted in identifying which city will be the host. This is the first question which the world is asking at this point of time. Unless there is clarity in this regard, there can be no movement forward. Again, this decision cannot be taken by the IOA, it has to come from the highest office. The good part, many athletes and Para-athletes have already sent in best wishes that India hosts the Summer Olympics and Paralympics successfully. What needs to be done right away is to name the host city. That will surely create a buzz.