India, Qatar among seven bidders for 2036 Olympics
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GENEVA (AP):
India and Qatar received long-awaited clarity yesterday on their ambitions to host the 2036 Olympic Games.
They are now formally competing with five other bidders, including one proposal that would bring the Summer Olympics to Africa for the first time. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set an October 31 deadline for any late entrants to the race.
India and Qatar have long been regarded as leading contenders in a hosting contest the IOC aims to decide in 2029 through a vote of its more than 100 members. Those members include Nita Ambani, from India’s richest family, and Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
South Africa, South Korea, Germany, Hungary, and Turkey are also in the running under an open-ended IOC process that allows candidates to target not only the 2036 Games but also the 2040 and 2044 editions.
“But wherever the Games take place, one thing must never change: Athletes have to be at the heart of everything we do,” said IOC President Kirsty Coventry, a two-time Olympic swimming gold medallist.
The IOC also published a 30-page document yesterday to guide bidders through the next two and a half years, during which key decisions will be made by the IOC executive board, chaired by Coventry. Its 15-member board includes NBA great Pau Gasol as the athletes’ representative.
Main cities of the seven bids
India’s proposal is centred on Ahmedabad, which will host the Commonwealth Games in 2030 and is home to the world’s largest cricket stadium, named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Qatar has staged world championships in most top-tier Olympic sports, including football’s 2022 World Cup. Its bid could eventually expand beyond Doha to include events hosted by neighbouring Gulf states.
A Qatar-hosted Olympics would likely require the Games to be moved from their traditional July-August window to a later period in the year. Every Summer Olympics from Athens 2004 through Brisbane 2032 has been scheduled within that timeframe.
South Korea’s bid would be anchored in Seoul, host of the 1988 Summer Olympics, with events spread across the country.
German Olympic officials last month selected Munich, which previously hosted the Games in 1972.
South Africa’s bid is shaping up as a national effort centred on Cape Town and could make history as the first African host of the Summer Olympics since the modern Games began in 1896.
Hungary and Turkey have proposed Budapest and Istanbul, respectively.
The next key milestone comes in March, when the IOC executive board is expected to approve a shortlist of candidates to develop detailed bid projects.