India out of race to host 2032 Olympics

India has pulled out of the race to host the 2032 Olympics to focus on bidding for the Youth Olympic Games in 2026, John Coates, the Vice President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) told 4BC News Talk Radio in Australia.

“India was looking at it but they are looking now at the Youth Olympic Games,” Coates said. Last year, Narinder Batra, the President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) had laid out an elaborate plan towards the 2032 Olympics. "We are looking at 2026 Youth Olympic Games, and we have also expressed our interest to host the 2030 Asian Games so that the infrastructure will be ready early and it will just be a two-year gap to the Olympics," he had stated.

Coates, who is also the President of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) further added that Queensland has emerged as the strongest contender to host the Games next decade, with the other cities that were in the fray either pulling out or not continuing their talks further. According to him, Indonesia, Korea (a joint bid), Spain, China and 12 cities from Germany had shown interest in hosting the Summer Games, but no serious discussions have materialized thus far. That leaves only Queensland in the fray.

The dwindling number of cities who have been eager to raise their hands and bid for the Games in the recent past has put a serious question mark over the future of the Olympics. Only two cities were left to bid for the 2024 Olympics that was eventually awarded to Paris, while only Kazakhstan and China showed their interest in hosting the 2022 Winter Games. Five cities bid to host the upcoming 2020 Olympics, a huge decline from the 12 that had bid for the 2004 Games.

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The inflated rates of hosting the tournament has not gone unnoticed, with cities often over-spending to host the gala event. Recently, Queensland too is facing opposition in Australia from right-wing populist One Nation party, who claim that the city should not bid for the event, as the Olympics will cost around AUD $12 billion, and is likely to go over budget.