India to bid for 2026 Youth Olympics, 2030 Asian Games, 2032 Olympics: IOA president Narinder Batra

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra said the country will be bidding for the 2026 Youth Olympics, the 2030 Asian Games as well as the 2032 Olympics, on Thursday at a press conference in New Delhi.

"We are actually going to bid for three events. Whether it comes to us or not, the IOC will decide. We will present bids for hosting the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, the 2030 Asian Games and the 2036 Olympic Games. We might not get to host it, but we will get a taste of what kind of competition there is," he said.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, however, refused to provide any assurance. When asked how likely are India to host one of the three events, he said, "I just want to say that India has a lot of potential and one day India will host the Olympics but at the moment, the procedure for claiming the 2026 Youth Olympic Games or the 2032 Olympic Games have not yet opened. So, it will not be appropriate to say anything right now."

Bach further said that only a few countries around the world have the capability to host the Olympic Games and so far, seven cities/national Olympic committees have expressed their interest in hosting the 2032 games.

While Tokyo is hosting the 2020 Olympic Games, Paris will be hosting the 2024 Olympics and Los Angeles will be hosting the 2028 Olympics.

Interestingly, a few days back, Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had said that the government “does not foresee us hosting big tournaments in the immediate future”. He had added that the focus would be to build “small, practical playfields” instead of “mammoth stadiums” that are required to host an event like the Olympics. In such circumstances, it remains to be seen how things unfold.