20-05-2025
Indian delegation for talks at IOC headquarters over hosting 2036 Olympics
New Delhi: A high-level delegation from India will travel to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne to discuss the country's bid for the 2036 Olympics.
The eight-member delegation comprising Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials, led by president PT Usha, and representatives of the Union Sports Ministry and Gujarat government, will meet IOC's Future Host Commission (FHC) on June 30-July 2, it has been learnt.
This will be the first 'in-person meeting' of Indian representatives with FHC since the country sent an expression of interest in October for hosting the 2036 Olympics.
'The objective of the visit is to present updates on various areas of preparation related to Gujarat's candidature for hosting the 2036 Olympics and to receive IOC's feedback and guidance,' according to people aware of the development.
India has also shown interest in hosting the 2030 Commonwealth Games, also in Gujarat, which would prepare the ground for the Olympics project. The same delegation will also visit the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) headquarters in London from June 2-7 to discuss the CWG bid.
The team will include IOA CEO Raghuram Iyer, secretary, union sports ministry, Hari Ranjan Rao, Gujarat sports minister, Harsh Sanghavi and Ahmedabad municipal commissioner Banchha Nidhi Pani. The delegation is expected to meet next week and prepare presentations for the projects.
FHC has already held virtual meetings with IOA on the subject. The visit to Lausanne is part of the continuous dialogue process to discuss India's bid. Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry takes charge as the new IOC president on June 23.
Besides India, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Germany, South Korea and Hungary have expressed interest in hosting the 2036 Games.
As per IOC's host selection process, the FHC, currently headed by former Croatia president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, is the body that begins informal dialogue with aspiring host nations. Once it receives an expression of interest, FHC engages with the interested parties in a 'continuous dialogue' where IOC provides technical support to assess the feasibility of the projects based on the specific needs and long-term development plans.
The next step is 'targeted dialogue' with one or more interested parties and formal submission of bids for a specific edition of the Games. The process starts as instructed by the IOC Executive Board following recommendation by the FHC. The final selection of the host city is done by the IOC Session.
