Why in Broadcast?

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently chaired a high level meeting in Ahmedabad, to examine the initial preparations for Gujarat’s bid to host 2036 Olympic Games. The meeting was further attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Sports Minister Harsh Sanghavi.

More about the news

• Ahmedabad putting forth the idea to host Olympics is not new, cities like Mumbai and Delhi had also put forward the ideas to host Olympics in the past.
• The next three Olympics’ hosts have already been decided and they include Paris (France) in 2024, Los Angeles (USA) in 2028 and Brisbane (Australia) in 2032.

International Olympics Committee (IOC)

• IOC is a non-governmental organisation that was established in 1894 with the aim to ensure the Olympics games are held regularly.
• It is the organisation that is responsible for the selection of the host city and administration of the Olympic games held around the world
• It has 99 member countries, each having its own IOC representative, who is often an ex-Olympian or athlete. Nita Ambani, Founder, and Chairperson of Reliance Foundation is the representative from India.

The selection process for Olympic host cities

1. Background:

• Earlier, the host cities were selected on a voting basis which was later alleged for corruption and it resulted in unsustainable bids.
• The new process includes IOC going into direct consultation with the interested cities. Brisbane, Australia was chosen through this process.

2. The process:

• The process is overseen by two permanent ‘Future Host Commissions’: one for the summer and one for the winter Games.
• These commissions comprise stakeholders, including athletes, International Federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs), and International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
• They make recommendations to IOC Executive Board, comprising the IOC President, four Vice-Presidents, and ten other members.
• The Future Host Commission suggests a potential host, based on their observations of countries’ proposals and additional negotiations with those countries.
• The Executive Board must subsequently decide on the recommendations and this is followed by IOC voting.

Aspects of hosting Olympics

• Hosting an Olympics showcases, more than the capacity of a city which is an extension of the country, to plan and execute an event that is seen by the entire world.
• It gives a boost to the city’s tourism and increases the city’s earnings through sponsorship.
• Since most of the countries that have hosted the Olympics are mostly western countries, it becomes a platform to assert and showcase national culture and pride.
• However, high costs hinder several cities to host the Olympics. Further, significant public pushback has been witnessed against spending on sports-related infrastructure that might be of no use later.