New Delhi: India took a forward step towards achieving the goal of hosting the Commonwealth Games for the second time in two decades after the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) formally approved the country’s bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games during a Special General Meeting (SGM) in New Delhi on Wednesday.
India has already submitted an Expression of Interest for the 2030 CWG and proposed Ahmedabad, Gujarat, as the host city. The country will now need to submit the proposals for the final bid before the August 31 deadline.
Canada’s decision to pull out of the race to host the 2030 edition has brightened India’s chances of hosting the mega-event.
“The approval was given unanimously by the General House. We will now move ahead full steam with our preparations,” IOA joint secretary Kalyan Chaubey said after the SGM.
Recently, a team of officials from Commonwealth Sport, led by its Director of Games Darren Hall, travelled to Ahmedabad to inspect the venues. The team also held a meeting with officials from the Gujarat government.
A bigger delegation of Commonwealth Sport is likely to arrive in Gujarat’s mega-city later this month.
“The 2030 CWG will be a full-fledged Games. We will have all the sports we are good at and have a chance of winning maximum medals,” said Executive Council member Rohit Rajpal. The 2026 Glasgow edition will have a pruned roster with major sports like hockey, badminton, wrestling, and shooting left out, citing the cost factor.
“There are three groups of sports. First is core sports of the Commonwealth Games which are always there, then are sports which the host nation can choose, and the third are the additional sports.
“The 2030 will be an inclusive Games and will feature our traditional and indigenous sports also,” Rajpal further said.
Return of CWG after two decades on the cards
The decision on choosing the host country will be taken by the General Assembly of Commonwealth Sport in the last week of November in Glasgow. If India’s bid is successful, they will return as CWG hosts two decades after staging the 2010 edition of the multi-sport event in Delhi.
Hosting the 2010 edition was a significant moment in Indian sports history as it became the largest international multi-sport event to be staged in Delhi and India, eclipsing the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982.
A whopping 4352 athletes from 71 nations and dependencies participated in 21 sports and 272 events, making the Delhi edition the largest Commonwealth Games to date.
However, the 2010 CWG was marred by massive corruption allegations and controversies, which included inflated contracts, financial irregularities, and accusations of kickbacks and mismanagement.
The interest in hosting the 2030 CWG is part of India’s push to host the 2036 Olympics. The country is in the ‘Continuous Dialogue’ phase with the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission.
(With PTI Inputs)