The IOC is very interested in presenting its crown jewel event in India.
It seems the lessons of fiscal responsibility are routinely ignored when it comes to hosting either the Summer or Winter. The Olympics event is a money drain, taxpayers in Montréal, the Province of Québec and the country of Canada paid off the debt incurred by the 1976 Montréal Summer Olympics about four decades later. New York State residents are still pouring money into Lake Placid because the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics lost cash. The International Olympic Committee does not want to see any area pursuing its crown jewel events going to the local population and having the locals vote on whether money should be spent for the Games. City after city, country after country have said no to the event.
But the IOC is still looking for untapped areas that might have money to burn that could host its event. India might be the next frontier for the IOC. India has the population and the IOC may have found a group of politicians that are gung-ho about hosting the Games. The IOC will know more about the seriousness of India bidding for the 2036 Summer Olympics by mid-October. But the IOC President Thomas Bach seems confident that India is ready to put its money whether its mouth is. “India can play a much more important role in the Olympic Movement and for the Olympic Movement to have such a growth potential as with India. We had dialogues sometimes and there were different indications from both the Indian Olympic Association and from the side of the central Government,” Bach said. “India, with its flourishing sports movement is going beyond the more traditional sports and embracing more and more Olympic sports. It’s a really welcome initiative by India.” As long as India can show Bach the money, it is a welcome initiative.
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