2036 Olympics bid: India need to wait, as new IOC chief Coventry calls for a pause

The public announcement by Kirsty Coventry, first female president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), on 26 June, Thursday, about a ‘pause and review’ of the host city selection process has created a flutter around India’s chances of hosting the 2036 Summer Games.

Not only will India have to wait longer than it hoped to learn whether it can keep its date with that grandiose dream, it also pits India against a number of strong contenders in likely a tougher scrutiny process.

It was barely two days after taking charge from her predecessor Thomas Bach, who believed in a tightly controlled approach in terms of bids, that Coventry announced a shift in policy. Going by her admission, the mood in the first executive board meeting in Lausanne with her in the chair saw the 70-odd board members pitching for a greater say in the bidding process as well as the time frame for awarding a Games.

“We want all interested parties to be a part of this pause and reflect and of this review,” remarked Coventry, the 41-year-old former multiple Olympic gold medallist swimmer from Zimbabwe, who has had a successful run as the sports minister of her country.

Her soft-spoken demeanour often masks her managerial acumen and the tough bargainer avatar — one who had famously negotiated with the International Cricket Council (ICC) to end Zimbabwe’s cricketing isolation some years back.

It’s no secret that Bach, for his part, avoided costly bid campaigns and worked on behind-the-scenes agreements with preferred bidders — which saw Brisbane being fast-tracked as the host for the 2032 Games in a surprise selection made 11 years in advance.

It drew sharp criticism from the IOC members, who felt excluded from the process and had a say in Coventry’s decision to adopt a more ‘inclusive’ approach. The so-called inclusive approach, a practice followed earlier, had its own pitfalls, with members with voting rights often being accused of lobbying and corruption.

So, where does this leave India?

For the 2036 Games, logically (and equitably) speaking, it should be Asia’s turn after Paris (2024), Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032) cover the cycle of Europe, Americas and Oceania. India has, thus far, sent a letter of intent in October 2024 and it’s an open secret that Ahmedabad is being primed as the bidding city – though a lot needs to be done over the next four–five years in terms of infrastructure as well as a robust Olympics programme so that they don’t end up with a single-digit medal tally as hosts.

There are at least seven other interested parties in Saudi Arabia (who will be hosting FIFA World Cup in 2034 too), Qatar, Indonesia, Turkey, Hungary, Egypt and South Africa — the last two are also hoping to be the first African country to host the Games.

The so-called Indian bid has already had prime minister Narendra Modi referring to it at every sporting event he is present at these days — the most recent having been the Khelo India Youth Games in Patna.

Nita Ambani, an influential member of the IOC, was instrumental in hosting the IOC Congress in Mumbai last year and is a key mover-and-shaker behind the bid. It’s surely by design that her family’s Reliance Group was conspicuous in the India Pavilion showcasing the country at Paris 2024.

 We are also sending a senior IOA (Indian Olympic Association) outreach delegation with the IOC next week.

“I am aware of the delegation coming next weekend – that will continue. They might be the first interested party for us to ask a couple of questions and to better understand from them,” Coventry said at the press conference.

It remains to be seen whether India can enjoy the first mover’s advantage – we have a lot of catching up to do. Not least is cleaning up the mess that is the IOA, the umbrella administrative body for Olympic sports in the country, if the Games are to be awarded to us even seven to eight years in the future. We need to, at the least, display intent here!

The current ask is also that of a sustainable Olympics, which advocates less spending on infrastructure and making use of existing venues — like the Paris Olympics saw extensive usage of the Stade de France and had fencing and taekwondo matches taking place at the Grand Palais.

India, which last hosted a multi-discipline showpiece with the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010, has a concentration of venues in and around the capital only.

Ahmedabad, meanwhile, has a 100,000-capacity stadium, which has the wherewithal to be turned into a multi-discipline venue. The rest has to be built, unless one chooses to make it a pan-Indian affair. We will have to wait and watch…