Olympics and Paralympics: India formally applies to hold the Games in 2036

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Sending a formal Letter of Intent (LoI) to the International Olympics Committee (IOC), India has formally joined the race to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036, the media reported on Tuesday.

The buzz around India’s bid to host the prestigious Olympic Games 12 years from now has been doing rounds since the Paris Olympics was held in France in August 2024.

The media reported, quoting officials from the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, that India submitted the LoI to the IOC’s Future Host Commission on October 1, expressing New Delhi’s interest in hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036. 

Besides India, other countries expressing interest in hosting the 2036 Games included Egypt, England, Indonesia, and Qatar. Olympic officials confirmed in mid-October that they were in talks with 10 potential candidates for the hosting bid.

The process of awarding hosting rights is mostly confidential and is led by Olympic officials. Brisbane, Australia, was chosen as the venue for the 2032 Games 11 years in advance, following a controversy involving French-led investigations into alleged vote-rigging. These allegations of vote-buying surfaced in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic bidding processes. 

Rio de Janeiro won the bid for the 2016 Games, while Tokyo was selected to host the 2020 Games.

At the Paris Games, India’s representative to the IOC, Nita Ambani, remarked that “the day is not far when India will host the Olympic Games.”