India has never hosted the Olympics before, but it hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2010. At that time, New Delhi was the host city. If India's bid to host the 2036 Olympics goes through and Ahmedabad wins, then the city will need to invest heavily in sports infrastructure, including Olympic venues, training facilities, residential parks for athletes, etc. This could be a drain on taxpayer funds, Zimbalist warned.

“The reason the city does not have sites is that there is no real economic demand for such facilities. So you build this facility, and within 17 days of the Olympics, the demand for millions of dollars to maintain this facility over time is not going to change. And in doing so, you occupy valuable and rare urban real estate that can be used for other purposes.

Andrew Zimbalist is professor of economics at Smith College in Massachusetts, USA. He has published numerous articles and books on the economics of sport in general and the Olympic Games in particular. In 2015 he published Circus Maximus: the economic challenges of hosting the Olympics and the World CupThis is a book that criticizes the enormous costs incurred by cities hosting global sporting events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup.

In the case of India, Zimbalist also noted that there were many lessons to be learned from countries that have already hosted the Olympics. “I think the lesson is that if you're not very careful, if you don't plan effectively, you're going to spend billions of dollars on facilities and infrastructure that you don't need,” he said. he declares. . The priority is so low that you divert resources from urgent and important uses to dubious and highly questionable uses.

The other candidate countries to host the 2036 Olympic Games are Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey and Poland.