India is refurbishing its cities like Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar after sending its letter of intent to the IOC to host the 2036 Olympic Games.
Ahmedabad, the tentative city to host the 2036 Olympic Games, has seen a major surge in sporting infrastructure development.
Former FIFA Council member Moya Dodd, who previously served on the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Athlete Entourage Commission, noted this and believes in bringing holistic growth for the nation.
“Leaving the voting politics aside, it’s a great opportunity to turbo-charge investment into sports infrastructure that’ll be able to bear fruit for many years to come,” Dodd said during the RCB Innovation Lab Indian Sports Summit on Friday.
“Making sure those investments are the right ones in the right places, serving the right people, and taking a holistic view of that is a big opportunity, not just in hosting rights but also to improve communities that will be hosts.”
Dodd, also, spoke about building a legacy infrastructure and product which benefits the communities by bringing them together in the long-term.
“It’s important to ensure that the model imposed isn’t one that’s purely extractive of that country but one that’s holistic and uplifts and leaves not just a legacy afterwards but actually delivers benefits along the way,” she added.
“That’s important because we say that sport is this great phenomenon that is so wonderful and it’s healthy and it’s good for us all. Let’s make sure that it doesn’t bring suffering or disadvantage to anybody because of a major event that’s come.”
India doesn’t have an experience of hosting the Olympic Games. But in the past the most populated country in the world has hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982 as well as the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
READ MORE: PR Sreejesh: Investments Needs To Go Into Grassroot Talent Indentification