3 Reasons why India should not bid to host the 2032 Olympics

With India seriously considering a bid for the 2032 Olympic Games, the question that hangs in the air is have India built a sporting culture to sustain and successfully conduct an Olympic event?

After all, the memories of 2010 Commonwealth Games haven't been great, especially for the taxpayers and the athletes. The state-of-the-art facilities built at astronomical prices have been left unattended to and haven't been able to fulfil any of the objectives or goals these multinational extravaganzas aim to achieve.

With the Olympics increasingly becoming a show of might and capabilities and with China and Brazil already hosting the recent Olympics, the voice has strengthened for India to follow suit and show its might in hosting the biggest sporting carnival.

While the Olympics' hosting rights for the 2024 and 2028 editions have been awarded to Paris and Los Angeles respectively, Delhi has a very realistic shot at hosting the 2032 games. Let's take a look at why India should not consider it though.

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#1 The money factor

The Game organizers came under the scanner at Rio Olympics

The scale of the Olympic Games is huge both in the diversity of the sports played to the number of participating countries; it is huge in comparison to the Commonwealth or Asian Games. By 2032, most of the stadiums with the lacklustre maintenance would require wholesale upgrades from the scratch.

With the introduction of modern disciplines to the Olympic movement that are relatively unknown to the Indians like Rugby 7s or Baseball, there would be a need of new stadiums to be built.

The cost of this building process is very taxing on the economies of the developing countries as was seen in Rio 2016 with corrupt officials overshooting the budgets multiple times, delays in the construction of stadiums and strict deadlines increasing the cost even more.

#2 Lack of public interest

Empty stands at the DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai during U-17 World Cup in 2017

The lack of public interest in most sports except a few mainstream sports like cricket, wrestling or shooting is a huge hindrance to a successful event. Selling out stadiums for sports like football or athletics is a huge challenge given the capacities of these stadiums.

Even after its recent popularity, football largely remains followed especially at the U-23 level. This issue is heightened by the fact that the hosting rights will be with Delhi or Mumbai which are clearly not the football heartlands of the country. Sports such as Baseball, Swimming, Weightlifting, Fencing and several others may find little interest from the Indian public.

With no crowds to channel the athletes, they may find it hard to seek motivation for higher performance levels, especially in sports like athletics where having a rapturous crowd behind or against you may prove a very positive motivator. Economically too, ticket sales are essential for fulfilling the budgetary constraints and to have any chances of breaking even.

#3 Performance levels of athletes

Several athletes such as Deepika Kumari have disappointed when it has mattered the most

It's no secret that India is producing world-class athletes in a few select sports only. And most of those sports are not included in the Olympic Program. Considering they may be included as the optional events based on the host city's choice, only a handful of events have true medal winning hopes.

While over a decade of time is enough to see a change in the Indian sporting landscape, expecting India to be a regular medal contender in several sports is highly far-fetched.

In such a case, hosting such an event could turn out to be an international embarrassment for the nation with the fact that much smaller nations could perform much better than India and come to the forefront of the headlines. This can act as a boon for the sporting fraternity of the country seeking the required push for mainstream attention but it will be a huge embarrassment for the rest.