With eyes on 2036 Olympics bid, Ministry steps in to prevent repeat of India Open lapses
3 min readNew DelhiFeb 4, 2026 10:12 PM IST
An official of the sports ministry and one from the Sports Authority of India will be at venues hosting international tournaments in India to ensure there are no infrastructure related or organisational issues that could give a bad name and impact India’s chances to successfully bid for the 2036 Olympics. A sports ministry source confirmed that an internal note mandating the presence of two officials to oversee and observe the preparations and conduct of an international event has been circulated in the aftermath of the negative publicity because of bird poop on courts, the spotting of monkey in the stands and criticism of the lack of hygiene during the India Open badminton tournament held in the national capital last month.
Despite hosting events, including the Asian Aquatics Championships, the World Para Athletics Championships, the FIH Pro-League, the ISSF Junior World Cup, the UCI Pune Grand Tour and the BWF Junior World Championships, the sports ministry wants to ensure international events remain incident free as it targets hosting the Olympics with Qatar also a serious contender for the 2036 edition.
“India has successfully hosted some major events and officials of international federations have had positive things to say. However, incidents like dog bites during the World Para Athletics Championships and the criticism during the India Open is undoing all the hard work. The sports ministry wants to make sure there is no scope for criticism when India hosts events. Hence the ministry has decided that two officials will be at events to oversee preparations. The only aim is to ensure there is not even a minor slip-up,” a sports ministry source said.
Though respective national sports federations are in-charge when India hosts an international event, when something goes wrong the sports ministry also gets discredited.
The 2026 India Open had been shifted from KD Jadhav Indoor hall to IG Indoor Stadium, which is a much bigger arena within the same complex. The IG Indoor Stadium is the venue for the BWF World Championships to be held in New Delhi in August.
The BWF backed the IG Stadium as the venue for the World Championships but at the same time acknowledged issues regarding ‘general cleanliness, hygiene and animal control’ based on feedback from the players. Among the players who were critical of conditions at the India Open was Danish shuttler Mia Blichfeldt. Denmark’s men’s World No.3 Anton Antonsen said he had pulled out of the India Open because of poor air quality in the capital.
In October, a Kenyan coach and a Japanese assistant coach, who are in New Delhi for the 12th World Para Athletics Championships, were bitten by dogs at the warm-up track of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
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“India can host international events successfully, but the recent incidents the sports ministry believes were blown out of proportion and got a lot of coverage. But the ministry realizes there were issues. The ministry wants the right picture to be portrayed about India’s capability as hosts,” the source added.
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