Russia could consider a bid for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games bid, it was reported Monday from Moscow.
Website Sputnik wrote that Arkady Dvorkovich, Chairman of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Local Organizing Committee in Moscow said “Russia will continue hosting large sports tournaments, all our partners, international organizations know that we can do that.
“As for the Summer Olympic Games,” he added, “the hosts are selected up to 2028. We will consider the situation in the next couple of years and make a decision.
“It’s too early to talk about it now, the decision will be up to the President, not me anyway.”
The Summer Games in 2024 and 2028 were awarded last year to Paris and Los Angeles as part of an historic double-allocation. The two cities were the only remaining after three other cities dropped out of the race, and the Intentional Olympic Committee (IOC) opted to select both strong candidates, giving concessions to the American entry for accepting the 2028 Games 11 years in advance.
The 2032 host city will be elected in 2025.
Russia is currently hosting its first FIFA World Cup, set to conclude July 15. In 2014 the nation hosted the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
The Summer Games were last hosted by the country in Moscow in 1980, and the Capital unsuccessfully bid to host the 2012 edition. St. Petersburg, the city that has been mentioned most often in discussions of future bids by Russia, pursued a 2004 Games bids that was lost to Athens.
Russian sport has been struggling to recover from allegations that its athletes were involved in a state-sponsored doping program. A clandestine sample-switching scheme was uncovered in use at the Sochi 2014 anti-doping lab that helped give Russia’s Olympic team an unfair advantage.
In response, some Russian athletes were banned from the Rio 2016 Games by the International Athletics Federation (IAAF), and the Russian team was excluded from the PyeongChang 2018 Games. Some athletes who were proven clean, however, were able to participate under a neutral flag.
Groups from Australia, India and Germany have also expressed interest in hosting the 2032 event.
