India is planning to host the Asian Games in the near future and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) held preliminary discussions regarding the same with the Sports Ministry earlier today. Indian Sports Minister Vijay Goel confirmed the news earlier today whilst speaking to the press. The IOA is also believed to have an interest in hosting the 2019 Beach Asian Games.
Goel was reported to have said, “We have received the proposal from the IOA and will be looking into it,” earlier today. And that sparked rumours that India were thinking of hosting the 2026 Asian Games as per an esteemed media house. However, with the 2026 Asian Games having already been awarded to Nagoya, Japan, Sportskeeda can confirm that such words are nothing but rumours. Thus, it seems that the IOA seems to have their eyes set on the 2030 Games.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, a member of the Sports Ministry confirmed, “There have been talks with the IOA regarding the hosting of the Asian Games in the near future. However, any talks of India bidding for the 2026 Asian Games is not true.”
India has hosted the Asian Games twice – including the first ever edition in 1951. However, the last time the Asian Games was held on Indian shores was 35 years back in 1982. The country, however, has never hosted the Asian Beach Games ever. India last held such a major sporting event back in 2010 when New Delhi was the host for the 19th Commonwealth Games.
And the country is now getting ready to host the FIFA U17 World Cup later this year.
The next Asian Games are set to be held in 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia while Hangzhou, China will be the host four years later. Meanwhile, the 2026 Games – the 20th edition was awarded to Nagoya last year in September.
It will be interesting to see what transpires in the next few months regarding these bids.
India doesn’t boast of a culture of beach sports and thus doesn’t have the infrastructure for the same. However, both the Asian Games as well as the Asian Beach Games will go a long way in developing the sporting culture in the country.
