India will launch a bid to host the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has confirmed.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai , Modi said hosting the event is “the age-old dream” for India.
“Indians are not just sports lovers, but we also live it,” Modi said. “India will leave no stone unturned in the preparation for the successful organisation of the Olympics in 2036 – this is the dream of the 140 crore (1.4 billion) Indians.”
“We want to realise this dream with your support. I am sure India will get constant support from IOC.”
A city or region wasn’t specified by Modi but Ahmedabad, which boasts the largest stadium in the world with a capacity of 132,000 and is named after the Indian Prime Minister, would be a likely contender as the main host city for the country's bid.
On Saturday, the stadium hosted a Cricket World Cup clash between hosts India and fierce rivals Pakistan, with India delighting the capacity crowd with an emphatic victory.
India does have experience hosting multi-sports events having held the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Indonesia and Mexico have previously expressed official interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics, and last month Poland's President Andrzej Duda told the IOC it wants to stage the Games.
No firm timeframe has been set by the IOC for when hosting rights for the 2036 Games will be awarded.
The 2036 Summer Games is the next available edition: Paris will host in 2024, Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.
Modi also told the IOC that India would consider bidding to host the Youth Olympics in 2029.
“Sport is not just about winning medals but also winning hearts,” he said.
Later, the IOC stated that countries which exclude athletes from competing for political reasons risk harming their plans to host the Olympics.
The “growing politicisation of sport” was flagged as a problem by International Olympic Committee member Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, the former president of Croatia, in an update to global sports leaders about countries who want to host the games in future.
Poland had earlier refused to let Russian athletes compete in the European Games this year and Indonesia was stripped of its hosting rights by FIFA for the men’s Under-20 World Cup in May because it did not want to stage Israel games.
“We have witnessed more and more government restrictions being placed on athletes’ access to international sporting competitions,” Grabar-Kitarovic said in Mumbai.
“It is important that all interested parties and preferred hosts commit to abide by the IOC’s code of ethics and rules of conduct,” she said.
