Munich has these 6 competitors for the 2036 Summer Games

The German Olympic bid with Munich has competition from six countries in the race for the 2036 Summer Games. The International Olympic Committee named Qatar, India, South Korea, Hungary, Turkey and South Africa as other candidates. As a next step, the IOC will decide in March next year which of the applicants will advance to the second phase of the application process, the so-called “strategic dialogue”. The 2036 Olympics and Paralympics will be awarded at a general meeting in mid-2029.

Before that, the IOC wants to agree on a “selected number” of preferred hosts in December 2028, who will be included in the final selection as part of the “targeted dialogue”. Further applicants could express their concrete interest until the end of October, after which the list of candidates for 2036 will be finally closed. In November, all interested parties should present their plans to the IOC selection committee.

Munich prevailed in the national application process against the Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr project. Hamburg's plans had failed in a referendum. Berlin withdrew its candidacy shortly before the decision of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) because the Olympic supporters in the Senate had been voted out in the House of Representatives election.

The DOSB had submitted the German application for the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Games to the IOC. Should the 2036 Olympics go to one of the candidates from Asia, Munich would automatically enter the race as a DOSB applicant for the following two editions. The aim is to come up with a strong project when the IOC awards the Games to Europe again.

Qatar has long been considered a strong candidate for 2036, but the Iran war would currently make the region a potentially risky choice. When it comes to India's plans for the megacity of Ahmedabad, there have recently been doubts as to whether the financing and implementation of the plans will be secured until 2036. The Commonwealth Games will take place in 2030 in the city of 5.6 million inhabitants, and the city also has the world's largest cricket stadium (132,000 seats). Cricket is a popular sport in India and would probably be an Olympic sport. Cricket competitions will also be held in Los Angeles in 2028.

Qatar comes with the experience of the 2022 World Cup. As was the case then, the summer games would probably be moved from summer to winter because of the temperatures.

Among Munich's European rivals, the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul has already made several unsuccessful attempts for the Olympics. Hungary, with its capital Budapest, has also expressed interest in the summer games for a long time. However, since former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was voted out, the efforts have become quieter. Madrid was also recently considered a possible applicant, but does not appear in the IOC list for the time being.

Munich and the DOSB must now submit detailed plans and financial guarantees to the IOC before the preselection is scheduled to be completed in March 2027. The makers of the Munich application recently estimated the costs for the Olympics at around ten billion euros. Five billion of these are primarily covered by ticket revenue. The remaining costs relate to infrastructure projects.