Mumbai to host 140th IOC Session in 2023
The IOC Session 2023 will be held at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai in May or June next year.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) won the bid to host the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) next session in Mumbai in 2023.
The IOC Session is the general meeting of the Members of the IOC and is held at least once every year. Important decisions regarding host cities for upcoming events, inclusion or exclusion of sports and federations and changes in the Olympic Charter are made at the IOC Sessions.
Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, IOC member Nita Ambani, IOA president Narinder Batra and sports minister Anurag Thakur presented India’s proposal for the hosting rights at this year’s IOC Session, the 139th edition, in Beijing on Saturday.
Beijing is currently hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics.
India won the bid after 75 members voted in favour of Mumbai while one voted against it.
The IOC Session 2023, returning to the country after 40 years, will be held in May or June at the state-of-the-art Jio World Centre in Mumbai. India last hosted an IOC Session in 1983 in New Delhi.
"The Olympic Movement is back in India after a 40-year wait. I am truly grateful to the International Olympic Committee for entrusting India with the honour of hosting the IOC Session in Mumbai in 2023," said Nita Ambani, the first woman to be elected as an IOC member from India.
“This will be a significant development for India’s Olympic aspiration and will herald the start of a new era for Indian sport,” Nita Ambani added.
The IOC’s Evaluation Commission had confirmed Mumbai’s eligibility to host the event in 2020 after visiting the city in October 2019, praising the quality of the facilities at the Jio World Centre.
The Commission was also impressed by the potential of India, which is the world’s sixth largest economy with a population of about 1.4 billion, 60 per cent of whom are under 35.
“We have chosen India because it is the second-most populous nation in the world, with a very young population and a huge potential for Olympic sport,” IOC president Thomas Bach had said then.