'India unlikely to host any big tournaments in the near future': Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore

What's the story?

Sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore told the media in a press event on the morning of April 3 that he doesn't see India hosting any major events in the near future. His statement comes in the wake of a scheduled visit by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

In case you didn't know...

The Indian Olympic Association were hoping that India would be a contender to host the 2032 Olympics. Previous sports minister Vijay Goel stated last year that the government was looking at the possibility of hosting the 2030 Asian Games as well.

The heart of the matter

In a press event early on April 3, sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore shut down the possibility of India hosting the 2032 Olympic Games. He told the media that a lot of questions have to be answered when considering as big an event. He spoke about the effects of the tournament on the country and whether the country will benefit from it.

“The bottom line for doing anything, taking such decisions (on hosting ticket events), the bottom line needs to be what good is that tournament going to be for our country? Is it going to be beneficial for us? And anything that comes our way, where we have to even consider hosting a big tournament, these are the essentials that we would answer. Right now we don’t foresee us hosting big tournaments in the immediate future,” Rathore said to the media.

“I think what is important is that instead of mammoth stadiums, I would rather have small practical playfields available to a larger section of the public,” he further said

Rathore's comments fall in line with IOC President Thomas Bach's scheduled visit to India in the latter part of April. His statement also happens to be in conflict with that of IOA President Narinder Batra when he told the media that they'll convey India's readiness to host big multi-sport events when Bach comes on his visit.

What's next?

The host cities of the next three Olympic Games have already been announced. The games are headed to Tokyo in 2020 before flying to Paris in 2024 and finally crossing the Atlantic in 2028 when Los Angeles will host the multi-sport event. If India does indeed decide to bid for the 2032 Olympic games, they'll have to submit an official bid before the results are unveiled in 2025.

Author's take

Rathore's statement falls in line with his vision to build from the grassroots level in order to give a more defined direction to Indian sports. Also to consider here is the fact that events as big as the Olympics have a huge impact on the country. India will have to suffer huge financial deficits and might be left with empty venues when the games are over. For now, it is far better to focus on building small and more accessible facilities for the general public than big venues, as the sports minister explained.