India's Sports Minister Anurag Thakur is confident that the country will host Olympics in future. He also insisted that hosting quality tournaments like Olympics across different disciplines will only help India in becoming the sporting super power in the near future. There were speculations of India bidding to host the Commonwealth Games 2026 after Victoria withdrew citing budget going out of hands as a reason.
Also, when asked about the same, Anurag Thakur didn't directly deny the possibility but expressed his wish that India would want to host the Olympics in future. He also stated that the work is being done in that direction. He also noted that the country's athletes are performing consistently now while there are people who are taking responsibility in the federations as well.
"India will organise the Olympics in future. We are working in that direction and when the right time comes we will give you the good news. India wants to host the Olympics. Our athletes are performing well and the federations are becoming more accountable. There is transparency, accountability and professionalism," Thakur said on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the Asian Junior and Youth Weightlifting Championships.
The tournament is being played in Gautam Buddha University in Noida and India is hosting the tournament for the first time. As many as 220 athletes from 18 Asian countries are competing in the tournament that will be played from July 28 to August 5. "India has got the opportunity to host the 2023 Youth and Junior Weightlifting Asian Championship. It's a big thing that we are hosting it for the first time," Thakur added.
Moreover, Anurag Thakur also confirmed that India's final list for the Asian Games in China will be finalised and announced soon. He stated that the decision around the football team delayed the proceedings a little bit but everything will be finalised soon. "The final list is getting ready, the teams are in preparatory mode. There was a big question in front of us whether the football teams should go or not. The teams were not falling in the top eight but I made the decision that they will participate," the Sports Minister said.
