India and Qatar launch bids to host Olympics for first time ever
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Seven countries are in the running to stage the 2036 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee has confirmed.
India and Qatar are among the leading contenders, with neither nation having hosted the Games before.
The other candidates for hosting rights are South Africa, South Korea, Germany, Hungary and Turkey.
Formal bids must be lodged by the end of this month, after which the interested parties will enter a dialogue process. That process ends with a final vote by IOC members in 2029.
India has long been regarded as a front-runner for the 2036 Games. Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat, is the city at the centre of its ambitions.
Gujarat is the home state of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, and Ahmedabad has already been announced as host of the 2030 Commonwealth Games.
Qatar is another prominent contender, and it intends to rely heavily on infrastructure created for its successful 2022 hosting of the football World Cup.
The Gulf state launched unsuccessful bids for both the 2016 and 2020 Games, losing out to Rio and Tokyo respectively.
Germany’s candidate city is Munich, which won the right to bid on behalf of the country following a vote by the country’s sports authority, the DOSB, late last month.
South Korea and Germany stand out on the current list as the only countries to have previously hosted the Games.
Seoul staged the 1988 summer edition.
Berlin and Munich did so in 1936 and 1972, respectively.
Once the initial bidding process closes, the interested parties will make virtual presentations and undergo feasibility studies before the IOC executive board selects an initial shortlist.
An Indonesian bid to host the Games in Nusantara was rejected by the IOC after the country refused to permit Israeli athletes to compete at the World Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta in 2025.
The next two Olympic host cities have already been decided, with the 2028 Games due to take place in Los Angeles. They were also held in Los Angelese back in 1984.
Four years later, the Olympics will head back to Australia for the first time since 2000, with Brisbane chosen as the host city for the 2032 Games.
