The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has formally approved the country’s dialect to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games, which is an important step in bringing the prestigious multi-game back to India after two decades.
The decision was taken unanimously in the IOA’s special general meeting (SGM) in New Delhi on Wednesday. After already presenting an expression of interest, India now has a final bidding offer with the Commonwealth Games till 31 August.
Speaking after the meeting, IOA President PT Usha said, “I am glad that all are together and this was a unanimous decision. We cannot just tell whether Ahmedabad is the host city. We have good facilities in Bhubaneswar and even in Delhi.”
While Nigeria, Canada and two other countries also expressed interest in hosting the CWG 2030, Canada withdrew from the race in June this year. Recently, a Commonwealth Sports delegation led by Sports Director Darren Hall visited Ahmedabad to inspect the proposed places and meet government representatives in Gujarat. A large delegation is expected to be the end of this month.
The final decision on the host nation will be taken at the Commonwealth Sport Mahasabha in Glasgow in the last week of November.
India last hosted the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010, a historic edition where the country won its best medal-101 medals, including 38 gold, and finished second in the Samagra Tally. The next best performance was with 69 medals in Manchester 2002.
The 2030 version will be the 24th Commonwealth Games, with the previous version held in Birmingham, UK (2022) and will be determined for an upcoming Glasgow, Scotland (2026). The Glasgow version will be a scale-down event, which will be excluded from the program with sports such as hockey, badminton, wrestling and shooting.
However, IOA officials have confirmed that India should win the dialect, they will aim to stage a full game, including indigenous games like kho and kabaddi.
