In October 2023, in front of International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach and hundreds of other delegates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally declared India’s willingness to stage the 2036 Olympics, saying the country would leave ‘no stone unturned’ to win the hosting rights.
A year later, talks between India’s sports administrators and IOC officials have ‘completely stalled’. The reason, according to a letter dated October 3, is the unrelenting infighting among Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials over the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer.
IOA president PT Usha alluded to the issue in her letter to the members on Thursday, calling for a Special General Meeting on October 25, saying the prevailing situation ‘has the potential to cause significant disruption’ to India’s ambitions to host the Games.
IOA chief PT Usha has slammed its EC members in a scathing letter addressed to the IOC Director of International Relations. (FILE photo)
Another senior official, requesting anonymity, admitted that there has been no communication between the IOC and Indian authorities regarding the 2036 bid since the Paris Olympics.
During the Games and before it, the IOC’s future host city commission held multiple rounds of talks with India’s government and Olympic officials. In Paris, India sent a delegation to study the organisational aspects of the Games and a few members attended the IOC’s executive programme as well.
”But since then, there have been no talks,” an official said.
When asked specifically if discussions had stalled, the IOC did not directly address the issue. Instead, it replied in a statement to The Indian Express: “The IOA is fully responsible for the current situation and must urgently address and resolve its internal governance issues. The IOC does not have any further comments on this topic to make at this stage.”
The current quagmire is over the appointment of IOA’s CEO Raghuram Iyer. In January, the seasoned sports administrator was named CEO after being recommended by IOA’s Nomination Committee comprising Usha, former world champion boxer MC Mary Kom and IOC member Nita Ambani.
No common ground
However, the IOA’s Executive Council is yet to ratify the appointment, citing Usha’s ‘arbitrary’ decision-making and a ‘high salary package’, amounting to approximately Rs 3 crore.
Many key IOA meetings, including the latest in September, have ended abruptly because of a lack of consensus over the CEO’s appointment.
In her letter to IOA members on Thursday, Usha wrote: “It is critical to note that the role of the CEO is vital for the smooth operation of our association. The delay and denial by some members of the EC (Executive Council) in accepting this appointment is affecting our governance and international standing and further, this has the potential to cause significant disruption of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji’s vision of hosting the Summer Olympic Games 2036 in India.”
When contacted, two senior executive committee members said they did not wish to comment but accepted that the situation has undermined India’s Olympic bid.
One of the members, requesting anonymity, said the CEO would be a ‘key figure’ around whom a bid committee would be formed. That panel will in turn ‘engage with the 100-plus IOC members and swing the momentum in the country’s direction’.
“But the appointment has been made in a high-handed manner, without proper consultation. Hence, we are not in a position to ratify it,” the member said.
India is yet to officially name a potential host city even though the Gujarat government has formed a separate entity and announced infrastructure projects in Ahmedabad worth Rs 6,000 crore.
Separately, three government officials travelled to Paris under the IOC’s Future Games Observer Programme and during the Olympics, an ‘India House’ was set up to further ‘lobby’ for the hosting rights.
Apart from India, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Hungary and Indonesia are among the countries interested in hosting the 2036 Olympics.
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