International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach is to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday amid growing expectations that one of the Olympics’ perennial underachievers might make its first bid to host the Games.
Even if hosting the Olympics in 2024 appears unlikely, observers say Modi might sanction a bid for further down the line, although he will be anxious to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing headlines that accompanied the shambolic 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
With Beijing having played host in 2008 and Tokyo due to do the honors for a second time in 2020, there is a growing sense that an Indian bid to stage the world’s biggest sporting competition is overdue.
Photo: AFP
Speculation that Modi could approve a bid was fueled by recent reports that said the prime minister would raise the issue when he meets Bach in Delhi.
Olympic Council of Asia
secretary-general Randhir Singh, India’s only IOC member since 2001, said interest in a bid would be welcomed by his colleagues, while playing down talk of 2024 as “wishful thinking.”
“The IOC would love to see India host the Games,” Singh told reporters in an interview. “Everything will depend on how the talks between Modi and Bach go, because ultimately it is the government that has to make a call, but why not? If it is not 2024, it could be 2028 or even 2032.”
“There is more awareness when you organize a Games,” Singh said. “The interest grows, there is more sponsorship, there is benefit all round.”
Despite being the second-most populous nation in the world, India has a poor record in Olympic competition.
Shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won gold in 2008 in the 10m air rifle event, remains the country’s only individual champion, while the last of India’s eight field hockey titles came in 1980.
The medal haul from the London Games in 2012 was a meager two silver and four bronze, leaving India 55th on the medals table.
Worse was to follow at the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, last year, when competitors were not allowed to parade the Indian flag at the opening ceremony after the Indian Olympic Association was suspended for electing corruption-tainted officials to key posts.
The staging of the 2010 Commonwealth Games was overshadowed by a string of corruption scandals and budget overshoots that could damage India’s hopes of being allowed to host a much bigger event like the Olympics.
The Times of India newspaper reported last month that Modi was “open to the idea of bidding for the Games,” but wants “to know the costs, financial implications and other details” to avoid a repeat of the 2010 debacle.
Modi’s election last year was due in part to his reputation as a sound administrator during his decade as head of the thriving state of Gujarat and his zero-tolerance approach towards corrupt officials.
Singh, a former trap shooter who represented India at five Olympics, predicted that Modi and Bach would work well together.
“One is a gold medal-winning fencer leading the Olympic movement with a new vision, the other is a dynamic prime minister who wants to take the country to a higher level,” Singh said.
Having hosted the Commonwealth Games so recently, Delhi can boast a number of top-notch sports facilities, as well as a comprehensive metro system, which is seen as a crucial ingredient to a successful bid.
With Tokyo due to host the Games in 2020, Asia is seen as an unlikely venue for the 2024 version. Paris, Rome and Boston are all expected to throw their hats in the ring by the mid-September deadline.
However, Modi knows that a successful bid for 2024 will ensure him an even more prominent position in India’s history books.
Veteran sports columnist Ayaz Memon said India should bid for the Games, adding that it would be a huge boon to national prestige.
“There will be skeptics who will talk of white elephants and enormous costs, but hosting an Olympic Games can enable a changing and dynamic India to become a soft superpower,” Memon told reporters.
Singh said the perception that India was only interested in cricket was changing.
He pointed to the success of the made-for-television leagues in hockey, badminton and soccer, as well as the achievements of individual stars such as tennis ace Sania Mirza and badminton world No. 1 Saina Nehwal.
“In the past, the priorities of the government in a developing country like ours were different,” Singh said. “There could not be so much emphasis on sport, but now patronage in the form of sponsorship from business houses has begun. Overall, the picture is changing. We are slowly changing.”
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