IOC Slams Government Over Doping, Governance Failures as Ahmedabad’s 2036 Olympic Bid Stalls: Report
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government's hopes of India hosting the 2036 Olympics in Ahmedabad were met with a wake-up call from the International Olympic Committee, according to a report by Indian Express.
The Indian delegation which visited the Swiss city of Lausanne to make this ambitious pitch on July 1 was headed by Gujarat’s home and sports minister Harsh Sanghavi and Indian Olympic Association president, the former athlete P.T. Usha. It had senior bureaucrats from the Gujarat and Union governments along with "private consultants and corporate executives," according to the report.
Yet, the IOC, Indian Express learnt through an unnamed source, asked India to settle its own issues like those of governance at the IOA, a rampant doping problem and India's poor show at Olympics games.
The latest Olympic games in Paris, India managed six medals despite a much-touted Rs 470-crore Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).
“It has been communicated very candidly that while India can continue preparing for its bid to host future Olympics, the country has to address these issues first. This was, in a nutshell, the big takeaway from this meeting,” the official who was privy to the discussions told The Indian Express.
The delegation's statement did not mention the "wake-up call" but said that the team “explored the opportunity and feasibility of hosting a future edition of the Olympic and Paralympic Games” without specifying the target year. Usha did not respond to Indian Express's request for comment.
“It has been made clear to us that the IOA must get its house in order before serious talks regarding hosting the Olympics take place. That’s the starting point,” the unnamed official said.
Administrative hurdles plague Indian athletics with the IOC suspending key grants to India since October 2024 over India's inability to be on the IOC's page on sponsorship deals and tackling alleged financial mismanagement.
The tussle within the IOA over the appointment of Raghuram Iyer as the Chief Executive Officer is also one of the enduring reasons why Usha has been under pressure from the IOC.
India has also topped the world doping charts. The latest World Anti-Doping Agency figures of 2023 finds that the maximum number of positive cases in terms of numbers and percentage are India's.
India's positivity rate for banned substances stood at 3.8% – 214 Adverse Analytical Findings (AAF) from 5606 samples.
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