India’s Olympics ambitions: India is preparing its pitch to host the 2036 Olympic Games. The ambition cannot rest on new stadiums, an opening ceremony and a larger sports budget. India will need trained coaches, credible talent pathways, sports medicine, venue management and a plan for using expensive facilities after the athletes leave. A UK-India sports partnership can help in this. It has hosted major sporting events, built a deep coaching system and learnt how difficult it is to find a second life for Olympic facilities. India should be interested in that experience, including the expensive mistakes.
Sport could become a useful part of the UK-India relationship. The test is whether the two governments can move beyond visiting delegations and vague agreements. A worthwhile partnership would train Indian coaches, improve sports academies and make India’s Olympic plans less vulnerable to cost overruns and grandiose construction.
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London 2012 offers India a useful Olympic lesson
The London Olympics were planned as an urban project as well as a sporting event. The 560-acre Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park brought venues, transport links, housing and commercial development to Stratford. After the Games, permanent facilities were adapted for everyday use and the park was opened to the public. The British government secured post-Games uses for all eight retained venues within a year. London City Hall and the UK government’s Olympic legacy report document the project.
London’s record was not spotless. Regeneration took longer than promised, housing affordability remained contentious and some legacy claims were hard to measure. That makes the experience more useful, not less. India needs to study the contracts, land use, transport planning and venue conversions, along with the mistakes.
An Indian host city would face a harder task. Land acquisition is contentious, city agencies seldom work to one plan and large venues can become public liabilities after an event. British planners and venue operators could help Indian authorities test projected costs, post-Games demand and operating models before construction begins.
British sport is built below the stadium level
Britain’s advantage comes from the institutions beneath professional sport. Clubs, schools, universities and national governing bodies provide routes from recreational participation to elite competition. UK Sport links public funding to performance programmes and invests in coaching, sports science and athlete support.
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Its current high-performance coaching programme covers coach development, professional standards and support for coaches working with funded athletes. These are areas where India remains short of trained personnel. UK Sport’s coaching strategy provides a possible basis for institutional cooperation.
India often recruits a foreign head coach shortly before a major competition. The appointment may help a small group of elite athletes but does little for the supply of Indian coaches. A better agreement would train Indian trainers, certify them and place them in state academies, universities and sports federations.
Football, swimming, athletics and cycling would benefit most from such work. Britain can also offer expertise in sports medicine, injury management, strength training and performance analysis. Joint programmes should be run through Indian institutions rather than as temporary assignments by foreign consultants.
India’s Olympics ambitions needs sports academies that produce coaches
India has built several centres of excellence, but quality varies widely. Some have good facilities and weak coaching; others lack physiotherapists, nutrition specialists or competition schedules. Buildings are easier to sanction than competent staff.
British universities and sports bodies could work with Indian states to establish academies that train coaches alongside athletes. A football centre, for example, should produce licensed coaches and analysts rather than depend indefinitely on imported staff. Sports science laboratories would serve little purpose without technicians who can interpret the data for coaches.
The partnership could begin with a few sports and states. Each academy should publish information on athlete progression, injuries, coaching qualifications and competitive results. That would allow public money to be judged by performance rather than the size of the campus.
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The UK-India sports partnership needs defined projects
A bilateral agreement should identify who will do the work. UK Sport, British universities, professional clubs and venue operators could partner with the Sports Authority of India, national federations and state governments. Broad memoranda without budgets, deadlines or named institutions will achieve little.
Four projects are immediately feasible. The first is a joint certification programme for Indian coaches. The second is a small network of academies linked to British universities or clubs. The third is technical assistance for Olympic venue planning and post-Games use. The fourth is cooperation in sports medicine, analytics and event management.
Commercial opportunities would follow in stadium design, broadcasting, equipment, sports technology and professional education. The draft case for a “multi-billion-dollar partnership”, however, runs ahead of the evidence. Neither government should attach a large number to projects that have yet to be specified.
India’s cricket economy shows that Indian sport can attract audiences, capital and broadcasting revenue. It does not provide a ready model for swimming, athletics or cycling. These sports depend more heavily on public facilities, school participation and patient investment in coaches.
India has started the process of bidding for the 2036 Olympics, according to the Government of India. The bid will be judged partly by venues and transport. Its lasting value will depend on whether India has more competent coaches, stronger academies and usable public facilities after the Games. Britain can help build them. India should seek systems, contracts and training, not borrowed prestige.
Kumar Kuntikanamata is Councillor in Fleet Town council, Hampshire, UK. He is an expert in pharma industry and worked for many global firms. He has also worked as Vice Chairman for British South India Council of Commerce.