By Jason Burke/The Guardian
India may bid for the 2024 Olympics, hoping to host the event for the first time in almost seven decades as an independent nation.
According to local media reports, the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who won a landslide victory last year, is keen to hold the Olympics in the emerging Asian power. Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee president, will meet Modi later this month in Delhi.
The Times of India quoted an “official source” confirming that the “government is exploring the possibility of India hosting the Olympics”. However, the source told the newspaper, the prime minister had made it clear that he “does not want a repeat of the 2010 Commonwealth Games … He wanted to know the costs, financial implications and other details.”
The Commonwealth Games held in Delhi five years ago led to major corruption scandals. The authorities were criticised when infrastructure projects were not completed in time, athletes complained about their accommodation, and costs soared.
The final costs of the event has never been accurately determined but may have been up to $10bn (£6.7bn), according to some estimates. Many of the world-class facilities that were constructed for the Commonwealth Games now lie virtually unused.
“That was a huge missed opportunity to showcase India to the world. What we remember of it is corruption and mismanagement. We’d have to consider if we can afford the Olympics and what the legacy might be,” said Prof Boria Majumdar, a sports historian.
The Indian Olympic Association was also suspended from December 2012 for 14 months for defying the Olympic charter by electing officials facing corruption charges relating to the 2010 event. The ban was only lifted in February last year. Indian athletes had competed for part of the Sochi Winter Games under the IOC flag.
Majumdar said the huge increase in the number of media accreditations issued to Indian journalists for the London Olympics showed how interest in the Olympics had grown in India in recent years. The south Asian nation of 1.3 billion people won six medals at the London event, taking 55th place. The US won 104, China 88 and the UK 65.
“The Olympic movement claims to be a global movement and so has to come to south Asia sooner or later. Maybe 10 years ago I would have said no, but I think now mounting a bid for 2024 would be a distinct step in the right direction,” he said.
Brazil will host the 2016 Olympic Games, followed by Tokyo in 2020. Rome, Boston and Hamburg have already declared themselves as candidates to hold the 2024 Olympics. Bids are also possible from Nairobi, Casablanca, Doha, Bangkok, Paris and St Petersburg. The winner will be announced in September 2017.
A file picture from the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in New Delhi.
