London: India is among the aspirants for hosting the Olympics in 2036 and beyond, Thomas Bach, the President of International Olympic Committee (IOC), has said.
After Brisbane (Australia) was chosen last month to host the 2032 Summer Games, the IOC enjoys a queue of suitors to host the Olympics in 2036, 2040 and even beyond, Bach said.
The aspiring hosts include India, Indonesia, Germany and Qatar, Bach said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
A narrative about the Olympics has taken hold so strongly in recent years that it has become received wisdom: The mushrooming costs and controversies of hosting the Games have driven down, to nearly zero, the number of potential host cities.
Bach, who was re-elected this year for four more years as the IOC chief, presented a sharply different picture in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.
And this is just the ones which come to my mind, Bach said during an interview during the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics, adding: So we are really in a very good long-term position.
Others who have publicly expressed interest in hosting the Games include Russia, whose athletes have spent the past three Olympics with their country under partial or full ban for doping.
Bach’s comments have come at a time when escalating costs, running into millions of dollars, of staging the Games has sparked debates. The recently-held Tokyo Games also faced protest for the amount of money spent in hosting the Olympics.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary general Rajeev Mehta confirmed to PTI that they indeed had shown interest in hosting the showpiece event.
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had, in March this year, said they would make every effort and upgrade the infrastructure to successfully bid for the 2048 Games, to mark 100 years of independence.
India had also shown interest in hosting the 2032 Olympics as part of a long-term hosting strategy that also included the 2030 Asian Games and the 2026 Youth Olympic Games.
The 2030 and 2034 Asian Games were awarded to Qatar and Riyadh, respectively, in December.
