As the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session returns to India with the Mumbai meeting scheduled from October 15 to 17, 2023, there is renewed interest in the all-important question – when will India host the Olympics?
India’s ambition to host the Olympics, possibly in the year 2036, had received a vote of confidence from International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach during a recent interview with CNBC-TV18’s Sheeren Bhan.
In the interview on September 4 this year, Bach revealed that he is aware of the interest expressed by both the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Indian government.
“We had dialogues sometimes and there were different indications from both the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and from the side of the central government. This is great news for the entire Olympic movement. India is the most populous nation on this planet,” Bach had said.
“India, with let’s say starting to flourish the sports movement – going beyond the more traditional sports and embracing more and more Olympic sports; it’s a really welcome initiative by India,” he had added.
The IOC session is the supreme decision-making body of the Olympic movement. It discusses and decides on the key activities of the global Olympics movement, including adoption or amendment of the Olympic Charter, election of IOC members and office-bearers and election of the host city of Olympics.
An Indian delegation led by Nita Ambani, the first Indian woman to be elected as an IOC member, had made a compelling pitch at the 139th IOC session in Beijing in February 2022, following which Mumbai received overwhelming endorsement for its bid with 99% of votes in favour.
Asked whether the possibility of India hosting the quadrennial event would come up at the Mumbai session, he had said: “That’s up to India. Here, our doors and hearts are wide open… Yes, there is a strong case for the reasons I am giving and seeing how India is flourishing and developing and how India now is embracing Olympic sports. So, there is great potential for both. India can play a much more important role in the Olympic movement and for the Olympic movement to have such a growth potential as with India. It’s, of course, very welcome.”
In July this year, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had expressed confidence that India would host Olympics in the future.
“India will organise the Olympics in future… We are working in that direction and when the right time comes we will give you the good news. India wants to host the Olympics,” he had said.
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