NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has withdrawn its (always dead in the water?) threat to boycott the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham over shooting’s exclusion. It also announced that the country will bid to host either the 2026 or the 2030 edition of the event.
So what changed in three months since IOA president Narinder Batra questioned the very relevance of the Commonwealth Games? Nothing. But Batra’s comments made in September in an interview to the the Indian Express in September are worth recounting. Said Batra at the time: “These Games have no standard. For me, these are a waste of time and money. We win 70 medals, 100 medals at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) while at the Olympics, we get stuck at two (medals).
“That means the level of competition isn’t high at CWG. It’s not a ranking tournament either. So why waste time? We should rather go to better competitions and prepare for the Olympics.
“The entire Middle East does not compete in CWG. The USA doesn’t either. As a sports administrator, it is my duty to make sure India has a strong team for the 2024, 2028, 2032 Olympics. We won’t achieve that by competing at the CWG.”
Fast forwarding to New Year’s eve, during its Annual General Meeting in the capital, the IOA, on the advice of Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), also decided to submit a (face saving but again dead in the water?) formal proposal to host a Commonwealth shooting championships before the main Games, an idea mooted by both the national and international shooting bodies to make up for the sport’s exclusion from 2022 CWG.
CGF president Louise Martin welcomed India confirming participation at the Birmingham Games.
As for the hosting bid, the country’s apex body for Olympic sports will next approach the government for the necessary clearances to host the multi-sport event. The country hosted the 2010 edition in the national capital.
Meanwhile, as Indian Express notes, the IOA’s extravagant hosting wish list heading into the new decade mentions five major sporting events over nine years: the 2023 International Olympic Committee (IOC) Congress; the 2026 Youth Olympics; the 2026 or 2030 Commonwealth Games; the 2030 Asian Games; and the most ambitious of them all – the 2032 Olympic Games.
Does IOA’s hosting wish list merit a discussion? Not at this juncture! Why? As the old proverb goes: “If wishes were horses…” Or to put it less bluntly, the IOA has to first get the government’s all clear to bid for any of the events on its wish list. For only after that can the IOA even begin the process of making an official bid. And it bears noting that each event that the IOA might ultimately bid for will come with different sets of requirements. So let the IOA first bid. And then let it win said bid…
Therefore, more relevant really are the events that India will definitely host in the next three years; rather than what India might host in the next decade and beyond. These are:
— 2020 International Hockey Federation Congress
— 2020 Women’s Under-17 FIFA World Cup
— 2021 Men’s Boxing Worlds
— 2021 World T20
— 2022 Commonwealth Shooting Championship
— 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup
— 2023 Hockey World Cup
