IOA hopes for Govt approval of bid

After the controversies that dogged the Commonwealth Games, the government has been wary of touching the Asian Games topic but IOA has been pressing for an official approval which would allow it to submit a formal bid.

“The bid document which we submitted for the 2014 Asian Games is still with the government. All they have to do is to take the cost escalation into consideration,” said Randhir. “We are also ready to give those details, basing it on the cost incurred by Guangzhou in conducting these Games,” he added. Guangzhou has reportedly spent 420 million dollars on these Games and has raised 450 million through sponsorship.

“We don’t need to spend much on infrastructure, perhaps we need to build couple of indoor stadiums. The infrastructure built for the Commonwealth Games is already there,” said Randhir, revealing that Delhi would be the city bidding for the event.

A clear picture on the other nations interested in the Games will emerge at the Olympic Council of Asia meeting in Guangzhou over the next couple of days. Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei are tipped to be among the interested countries.

If government clears India’s bid, IOA will need to submit the bid document to the OCA before February 15 next year.