India's 2036 Oly dream: IOC pauses bidding process to figure out 'appropriate' time to elect host

New Delhi: A decision on India's bid for the 2036 Olympics is set to take longer than expected as the International Olympic Committee's new President Kirsty Coventry on Thursday announced a "pause" on the entire process and set up a working group to figure out the "appropriate time" to identify a future host.

In an online press conference after taking over as the first woman and the first African President of the IOC, the former Olympic champion swimmer said the consensus among the members was to reassess the process. Earlier, a decision on the bid was expected next year.

"There was an overwhelming support from the IOC members for a pause to be done and a review of the future host election process and we will be setting up a working group to look into this," the 41-year-old Zimbabwean said after chairing her maiden executive board meeting in Lausanne.

"(This is) for two main reasons. Firstly, members want to be engaged more in the process and secondly there was a very big discussion on when should the next host be awarded," he added in her opening remarks after the two-day meeting.

Coventry said the executive board members felt that the experience of already decided future hosts -- Los Angles (2028 Summer Games), Brisbane (2032 Summer Games), French Alps (2030 Winter Games) -- need to be studied before proceeding on future proposals.

"So there was a lot of discussion on when is the appropriate time to elect a future host. And also how we should be selecting a future host," she added referring to the relatively shorter "lead-up time" that French Alps got due to awarding of the rights only last year.

India submitted a Letter of Intent to host the 2036 Games in October last year. A delegation, comprising high-ranking officials led by Sports Secretary Hari Ranjan Rao, is scheduled to be in Lausanne for informal talks on the issue next month.

Coventry said that visit will proceed as scheduled.

"We want all interested parties to be a part of this pause and reflect and of this review. I am aware of the delegation coming next weekend that will continue. They might be the first interested party for us to ask a couple of questions and to better understand from them.

"There is not going to be a specific pause on that but just on the entire process," she said.

"We need to ensure that we have more membership engagement and also look at the timing. When is the most appropriate time, when is the best time, when is the most effective time (to decide an Olympic host).

"What is the most effective way we are not going to overburden any of the stakeholders," she explained.

She, however, acknowledged that the global south (comprising Africa, the subcontinent and parts of Latin America) has been under-represented in the Olympic host movement.

"I think the Global South, in terms of host cities, is not really represented at all. But my job is to ensure that policies are in place to allow anyone who has the ability to host the Games," she said.