India will host the 2023 International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) session in Mumbai after successfully bidding for it at the 139th IOC session in Beijing, China.
Nita Ambani, the first woman representative from India on the committee, described it as a significant development for the country’s Olympic aspirations.
“This will be a significant development for India’s Olympic aspirations and will herald the start of a new era for Indian sport.”
IOC session is the annual meeting of the members comprising 101 voting members and 45 honorary members.
Union Minister for I&B and Youth Affairs & Sports, Anurag Thakur, tweeted calling this a “historic moment.”
This meeting will decide on the key activities of the global Olympics movement including adoption or amendment of the Olympic Charter, the election of IOC members and office bearers and the election of the host city of the Olympics.
The Indian delegation also comprised of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, and India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra were part of the Indian delegation.
It is reported that Mumbai received a historic 99% of the votes in favour of its bid from the delegates participating in the process.
Former Olympian and 2004 Padma Shri awardee Anju Bobby George told Republic TV:
“It means a lot for our Indian sports. And it is not only for the development of our sports. It is a collective thing actually – in tourism, in sports, in business.
It will be a big jump in India, and the entire world would be looking at our country. It will be a stepping stone to us bidding to host Olympics in coming years.”
This will be the second IOC session in India. The country last hosted an IOC session in 1983 in New Delhi.
