The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed South Africa have shown an interest in becoming the first African host of the summer Olympics in 2036.
Hungary, India, Qatar and Turkey are also working towards becoming first-time hosts, while Germany and South Korea are in discussions with the IOC having held previous summer Games.
The IOC stated that the seven countries are engaged in “continuous dialogue” with the governing body and have set a deadline of 31 October for submissions of stated interest.
Virtual presentations will be given by interested parties to the body’s future host commission in November, with IOC feasibility assessments to be carried out by March 2027.
After that, the national Olympic committees, all of whom have previously announced an intention to explore hosting bids, will enter strategic dialogue with the IOC.
The South Africa proposal involves hosting between three cities – Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
Durban had been set to host the Commonwealth Games in 2022, but withdrew in 2017.
Ahmedabad, which will welcome the Commonwealth Games in 2030 and has bid for the 2038 Asian Games, will be the host city in India’s bid.
The city has also staged four of the last five finals in cricket’s Indian Premier League at its Narendra Modi stadium, which is reported to have a capacity of 132,000 and is named after the current prime minister of India, who hails from the city.
Budapest and Doha, the capital cities of Hungary and Qatar respectively, are the hosts in their country’s bids.
Qatar hosted football’s 2022 World Cup, with multiple stadia in the capital, while Budapest has staged the 2022 World Aquatics Championships and 2023 World Athletics Championships.
Istanbul is the nominated city in Turkey’s bid, having previously bid unsuccessfully for the 2000, 2008 and 2020 Games.
The largest city in Turkey will host the 2027 European Games.
Germany has hosted the Olympics in 1936 and 1972, in Berlin and Munich respectively, while the latter city is bidding again for 2036.
Meanwhile South Korea capital Seoul, which hosted the Games in 1988, is part of a bid that also involves the province of North Jeolla.
The IOC also confirmed that a number of national Olympic committees are taking part in non-committal talks with the IOC about hosting future Olympic Games beyond 2036.
The UK government said in May that it is in “discussions about supporting potential bids” for the Olympics and Paralympics in the 2040s.
The 2028 Games will be held in Los Angeles, while Australia will host the Olympics for the first time in 32 years when Brisbane stages the event in 2032.
