IOC President: India now cannot be compared to India in 2010

With Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), stating that the option is being seriously considered, India’s prospects of winning the right to host the 2036 Olympic Games gained a much-needed boost.

Bach referred to it as an incredible accomplishment of India’s athletes doing well in Olympic sports after being impressed by the historic 107 medals the Indian delegation brought back from the just finished Asian Games in Hangzhou.

“There is a lot of interest, and India seems to be seriously considering making a bid for the Games. We must now wait to see how this will develop into a project and be presented to us. Then, Bach added on Tuesday, “we can develop an opinion.

“The number of medals won at these Asian Games is truly impressive. You can see that India now often wins gold in a variety of sports, not only shooting, he said.

The 69-year-old, who is in India for the IOC’s 141st session this weekend, also discussed his interest in T20 cricket, which is awaiting the IOC’s final approval before joining the Olympic family after being nominated by the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic organizers.

“The programme commission of the IOC met to discuss this suggestion. It will be brought up in the Mumbai executive board meeting. The IOC will then vote on the suggestion the board will make during its session. But I can say that I like T20 cricket, he said.

“The sport is represented in some way on each of the five continents. Not all of the sports that we have on the Olympic schedule necessarily fall under this category. So inside the continents, this is a nice place to continue developing it. There is still time to expand if 2028 is the target year.

When asked whether India’s hopes of hosting the Olympic Games would be dashed by the corruption scandal surrounding the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, the German said, “You cannot criticize such a young country for events where a majority of the people were not even born yet. India in 2010 cannot be compared to India in 2019.

Bach, however, was blunt in his advice to the Indian Olympic Association to organize its affairs if they want to host high-profile events such as the Olympic Games.

“But the IOA’s status would be important since it is our agency in India. Additionally, the contract for an Olympic candidacy may only be signed by the National Olympic Committee. This is why we have to trust IOA’s governance, he said.

“Some movement has been seen. We want to continue these discussions throughout our time here and will do so if the chance arises. Then, we will be able to trust IOA,” he stated.