India has made a strong pitch for the hosting rights of the 2036 Olympic Games, presenting Ahmedabad as the proposed host city at the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne on Tuesday. However, in response, the IOC flagged several concerns, including poor governance in Indian Olympic sports, rampant doping, and widespread age fraud, while also emphasising the need for improved overall performance.

At the Paris Olympics, India finished 71st with six medals, with javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra winning a silver - the highest medal won by an Indian athlete at the Games.

According to an Indian Express report, which quoted an official who was part of the Indian delegation - led by Gujarat’s Home and Sports Minister Harsh Sanghavi and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha - India should continue working on the master plan to host the Olympics in the future but must address the key issues that plague its current sports ecosystem.

“It has been communicated very candidly that while India can continue preparing for its bid to host future Olympics, the country has to address these issues first. This was, in a nutshell, the big takeaway from this meeting,” an official, who was privy to discussions in the meeting, told the daily.

The Indian delegation also included top bureaucrats, private consultants, and corporate executives from across the country. After the meeting at the IOC headquarters, the delegation stated that it had “explored the opportunity and feasibility of India hosting a future edition of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.” However, the statement did not specify the year for which India would bid. Earlier, officials had hoped that India would host the 2036 Olympics.

The success of India's bid for 2036 now depends on how quickly the highlighted issues are addressed, the official said. “It has been made clear to us that the IOA must get its house in order before serious talks regarding hosting the Olympics take place. That’s the starting point,” the official added.

The IOC's decision last month to halt the selection process for the host city, following the appointment of its new president Kirsty Coventry, will give India “much-needed time to sort out all the internal issues.”

It is important to note that the IOC has currently placed on hold the funds dedicated to athlete welfare in India due to concerns over administrative issues at the IOA. The world body said it would not release the funds “until the situation improves.”

IOA president PT Usha is currently engaged in a prolonged dispute with the body's Executive Council over various issues, including sponsorship deals, alleged financial irregularities, and the appointment of Raghuram Iyer as chief executive without the committee’s consent. The tussle has been ongoing for over two years at New Delhi's Olympic Bhawan, casting a shadow over sports administration in India.

In another setback for India, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) declared India as the country with the highest doping positivity rate in its 2023 annual report. In WADA's previous report, Russia was ahead of India. Meanwhile, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) placed India second on its list of doping offenders—behind Kenya—in its report collating data up to May 2025.