Delhi Wants To Host Olympics In 2048, But This Is What It Will Take To Do So

On Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal surprised many when he said that the national capital will bid to get an opportunity to host the Olympics in 2048.

Kejriwal announced this while addressing a press conference, stating that the vision for Olympics was incorporated in Delhi's annual budget of 2021-22 presented on Tuesday.

PTI

Eye on 2048 Olympics

Kejriwal said, "We will talk to the Centre in this regard but before that we have prepared for it so that Delhi can be considered one of the venues for Olympics in 2048. To grab this opportunity, we need to develop world-class stadiums, sports clubs, infrastructure regarding sports and also develop Delhi as world-class city to get the attention of the Olympics committee."

Though it came as a surprise from the CM, this is not the first time India, has shown interest in hosting the mega sporting event in Delhi.

In December 2020, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra had said India is keen on bidding for the chance to host Olympics in 2032 in Delhi.

BCCL/ File

On Wednesday, Batra said that Kejriwal should have discussed the matter with IOA first.

"It's a welcome step if they're thinking of it but at the same time, Arvind Kejriwal should have been in discussion with IOA first. They can send an expression of interest but bidding is a very different process. I will say it's a welcome move but Delhi alone can't stage the Olympics. Multiple cities have to be involved, there are many things involved behind any competition," Batra told ANI.

"In my point of view, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Complex in Motera is the best option for opening and closing ceremony of Olympics as of now," he added.

AFP

Batra also said that he feels that India can definitely host the Olympics before 2048. "One more thing I feel that before 2048 we will certainly have one Olympics in India," said Batra.

Delhi hosted 2010 Commonwealth Games

The previous major multi-sport event Delhi hosted was the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in 2010, which became infamous for corruption. Before that Delhi had hosted the 1982 Asian Games.

Incidentally, Delhi is throwing its hat into the ring at a time when International Olympic Committee (IOC) is finding it difficult to get hosts for future games.

AP

Despite its prestige, the countries of countries bidding for the games every four years is reducing, mostly due to the high price tag that comes with it.

The upcoming Tokyo Olympics 2020 (which should have happened last year) is the most expensive Olympics to date.

A wide-ranging study from the University of Oxford in 2020 showed that Tokyo Olympics¡¯ cost overrun already exceeds 200%.

Tokyo said the cost would be $7.3 billion when it won the bid in 2013. Tokyo organizers say officially they are spending $12.6 billion.

And with the pandemic, which has almost made sure that the games will be held without foreign spectators means that Tokyo will not make a lot of returns on the money it had invested.

Reuters

Bent Flyvbjerg, the author of the study had said that the trend cannot continue and no city will want to do this because it¡¯s just too expensive, putting themselves into a debt that most cities cannot afford.

As far as India is concerned, if Delhi is given the chance to host the games in 2048, the country will have to invest several more billions to upgrade the city's infrastructure, both sports and others to meet the global standards.

BCCL/ File

This is despite the fact that India had invested $4.1 billion for the 2010 CWG, which was originally said to cost the country $270 million.

The CAG had in 2011 said that the revenue from the games amounted to only $38 million, which was ''highly inefficient and deficient'.

Even after the estimates overshooting several times, many of the CWG venues and village were half-ready and had come under heavy criticism by several participating countries.