Polish sport minister Slawomir Nitras emphasized Friday that his nation is not ready to launch a bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036.
Speaking on a local radio broadcast Nitras pushed back on announcement made by President Andrzej Duda last September that a campaign to stage the Games was imminent.
“It would be necessary to make a bid and participate in a competition with other countries,” Nitras said, according Polish news agency PAP, “Poland is not ready for that today.”
Ahead of a Polish parliamentary election held October 15 President Duda said “After consultations with the Polish Olympic Committee (POC), the Ministry of Sport and Tourism and the government, I would like to say that it is our ambition and intention to start efforts to hold the Summer Olympic Games in our country in 2036.”
He added that a letter would be delivered to International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach during an October 6 meeting outlining plans to stage the Games centered in Warsaw leveraging on the success of the 2023 European Games held in Krakow and Malopolska.
While Nitras said he supports plans to bid for the Games, he cautioned “apart from the statement made by the president, the previous government had taken no steps in this direction.”
Nitras, who was named sports minister December 13, was referring to former sport minister Kamil Bortniczuk.
Typically bids had been elected seven years ahead of the opening ceremony, but under new less rigid rules introduced by the IOC in 2019 hosts can be chosen anytime. Brisbane was named 2032 host 11 years in advance while the IOC plans to name Salt Lake City host of the 2034 Winter Games with a vote in July, almost 10 years ahead.
Last year Bach said he intends to leave the 2036 decision to his successor after his term ends in 2025. He also said that the number of interested parties involved in discussions with the IOC were in the “double digits”.
Though the IOC keeps such discussions confidential, as many as 10 regions other than Poland have made public expressions of interest in hosting the 2036 Games including South Korea, Indonesia, India, Germany, Qatar, Hungary, Turkey, Mexico, Egypt and U.K.
Poland has never bid to host the Summer Games but failed vying for two Winter Games. Zakopane missed the shortlist for the 2006 edition while Krakow withdrew from the 2022 race when plans were overturned by a referendum. Nanjing in China was elected against Poland’s Poznan to host the 2014 Youth Olympics.
Paris will host the next Summer Games starting this July followed by Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.
