Feasibility Study Could Change Olympic Tune in India

(ATR) A study backed by the Indian Sports Ministry could help convince Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to flip his position on bringing the Olympics to the country for the first time.

According to the Times of India, the sports ministry is set to begin a feasibility study to bring the 2032 Summer Games to India. Once the study is complete, a report will be submitted to the national government for further discussion.

Modi met with International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach in April 2015 where he declined the opportunity to bid for the 2024 Summer Games. However, Indian Olympic Association president N Ramachandran has been consistently pushing for the country to host the Games.

Ramachandran was re-elected to lead the IOA in June and said preliminary discussions about staging the Olympics had begun with the national government. It seems that the country is now inching towards a bid for 2032 given the likelihood that Paris and Los Angeles will be awarded the 2024 and 2028 Games in a rare double allocation by the IOC this September.

"We are keen on understanding where the country stands before we decide upon the future course of action," a source close to the situation told TOI. "All things that go into hosting the Games will be discussed as we pose ourselves the question whether it is desirable and practical and whether we ought to consider bidding for Olympics at any point."

India is not alone with its ambitions to host the 2032 Olympics. Preliminary talks have also begun in Germany and Brisbane, Australia to host the 35th edition of the Summer Games.

Germany released a 13-city plan to host the Games while Australian Olympic Committee chief John Coates has said Brisbane is interested in a bid but the city should wait to see how changes to the Olympic bidding procedure may influence their decision.

The host city of the 2032 Summer Games is expected to be chosen in 2025.

Written by Kevin Nutley

Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.