There will be no major international competitions in China in the next decade
The major international events mentioned here refer to world-scale sports events such as the Olympic Games, the Winter Olympics, the Asian Games and the Football World Cup, and international sports events of this scale can only be held by the "national effort".
As is well known, the 19th Asian Games, originally scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China, from 10 to 25 September 2022, have been postponed to 23 September to 8 October 2023, and the subsequent Asian Para Games have also been postponed to 22 October to 28 October 2023. Inadvertently, when people count these "major international events", they find that in the past 10 years, there have been no major international events in China. Of course, the 2025 Asian Winter Games will be held in Harbin, China, and although the Games are on the same level as the Asian Games, they are negligible in terms of scale and influence.
Opening Ceremony of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou (23 September 2023)
Let's take a look at who these "major international events" will be held in the next 10 years:
Asian games
The 20th Asian Games in 2026 will be held in Nagoya, Japan
Emblem of the 20th Asian Games
The 21st Asian Games in 2030 will be held in Doha, Qatar
The 22nd Asian Games in 2034 will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
olympic games
The 33rd Olympic Games in 2024 will be held in Paris, France
The countdown to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games begins
The 34th Olympic Games in 2028 will be held in Los Angeles, USA
The 35th Olympic Games in 2032 will be held in Brisbane, Australia
Football World Cup
The 23rd FIFA World Cup in 2026 will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Emblem of the 26th World Cup
The 24th FIFA World Cup in 2030 will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay will host the three opening matches of the World Cup as a tribute to the centenary of the World Cup.
The 25th FIFA World Cup in 2034 will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Remember that on May 5, 2023, IOC President Thomas Bach arrived in China. During his five days in China, in addition to Beijing, he visited Hangzhou, Shanghai and Qufu, and also announced that he would donate all the US$10.4 million from the Beijing Winter Olympics to the IOC to support the development of Chinese sports.
During his stay in Beijing, he also met with Gao Zhidan, director of the General Administration of Sport of China and president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, and discussed issues of mutual concern. Needless to say, Bach's primary concern is whether China can bid for the 2036 Summer Olympics.
Currently, the IOC is in trouble with this matter. As we all know, after the 2022 Olympic Games came to an end in Tokyo, Japan, the host cities for the 2024, 2028 and 2032 Olympic Games have already been named (Paris, France, Los Angeles, USA and Brisbane, Australia, respectively). However, after the IOC evaluated the countries and cities that have decided to bid for the 2036 Summer Olympics, it believes that there are "hard flaws" in the comprehensive national strength and cultural fields to varying degrees. In other words, none of these countries are in the IOC's "legal eye".
As of October 2022, a total of 10 countries have expressed interest in hosting the 2036 Olympic Games, including Egypt, India, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Mexico.
After Beijing successfully hosted two Olympic Games, the word "exceptional" has become the exclusive word used by the IOC to evaluate China's hosting of the Olympic Games. Unlike when it bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games, no one in the world doubts China's ability to host the Olympics. If China can "continue" the 2036 Summer Olympics, the IOC will be "happy" and "relieved". Bach's visit to China to officially invite CCTV to become the main broadcaster of the Paris Olympics and sign the relevant memorandum of understanding is a great recognition of China's achievements and contributions in the field of sports. Second, it shows that the IOC attaches great importance to the support from China when promoting Olympic events in the future.
Gao Zhidan, Director of the General Administration of Sport of China and President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, met with IOC President Thomas Bach
It is reported that 12 cities in China have expressed their willingness to host the 2036 Summer Olympics, namely Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Dalian, Xiamen, and Xi'an. Although it is only at the stage of "willingness" and the Chinese government has not yet made any statement, it is enough to excite Bach, because after all, there is hope. The official date for submitting the bid is 2027, but rumors that "Chengdu and Chongqing in China will jointly bid for the Olympics and Shanghai will bid for the Olympics" have been widely reported, although they have since been verified as rumors. So far, the Chinese government has not made any statement on whether to bid for the 2036 Summer Olympics.
In fact, the fact that there will be no major international events in the country in the next decade seems to say something, and this decision is both objective and rational.
First of all, it is the "labor and money" of holding a large-scale event of this scale, and there are not a few countries that have "broken their muscles and bones" for this. For example, in 1976, Canada hosted the 21st Olympic Games in Montreal. However, after an Olympic Games, Montreal found that not only did it not make a penny, but it also owed $1 billion. At the time, the arrears were sky-high, slowing down the city's economic development for decades, and it took 30 years to pay off the arrears. In addition, the idleness and waste of stadiums and facilities after the "big construction" to host the Olympic Games is even more heart-wrenching. Although the famous "Bird's Nest" and "Water Cube" in the Beijing Olympic Sports Center have become well-known tourist attractions, everyone "knows" the importance of the huge annual maintenance costs and the income from commercial operations.
21st Olympic Games (Montreal, Canada, 17 July 1976)
The second is that the influence of such large-scale international events is decreasing year by year, and those host countries that try to increase their own influence through such events end up with a comical ending of "losing money and making money". Moreover, improving a country's influence and even discourse power in the world is not achieved through one or several Olympic Games, but by virtue of its own strength and strength. China, which is already the world's second largest economy, not only has the Olympic Games and Winter Olympics been "unparalleled," but also its own economic strength and strong military power have also made the world not to be underestimated. Of course, China knows how much money was spent and earned by the Beijing Olympics, and it also knows that if this money is spent on economic construction and improving people's livelihood, it will be more valuable than the face earned by the Olympics.
29th Olympic Games (Beijing, China, August 8, 2008)
Third, the Chinese people have also become more rational in their perception of hosting major international events such as the Olympic Games. At this time, the Chinese government no longer needed to mobilize the whole people like it did when it first bid to host the 1990 Asian Games. Chinese officials at this time will not be as frustrated and frustrated as they were when they failed to bid for the 2000 Olympics. At this time, the Chinese people will not be as bound to win the gold medal list as they did in 2008.
There is another element of "politicization of sports" that has been plaguing countries hosting major international events, and that is the phenomenon of "boycotting the Olympics" that has occurred repeatedly. The political situation in the world today is turbulent, especially the "taking sides" of various countries after the Russia-Ukraine war, which has led to various international competitions becoming a stage for political competition. Some people have analyzed that the reason why China has not expressed its bid to host the 2036 Summer Olympics is also to take this factor into account. Some people also predict that if China hosts the Olympics and really "reunifies" Taiwan by force before that, there will be a lot of people who will engage in "boycott" at that time. Some people even joked that if China undertakes the 2036 Olympic Games, Taiwan should be "safe and sound" before that.
When it comes to hosting the Football World Cup, the Chinese people seem to have a "special taste in their hearts", which is completely different from hosting the Asian Games or the Olympic Games. It's not so much "different" as "tangled". To be honest, there is no one in the Chinese people, especially the Chinese fans, who are not looking forward to playing the World Cup in China, and are very eager for China to have the opportunity to host the most exciting event in the world. However, when I thought that the national football team was still a puddle of mud that could not be supported by the wall, and the cowardice of Adou who could not be supported, this enthusiasm for hoping that China would host the World Cup was gone, because it was really unbearable to see the national football team "embarrassed" at home.
* The picture comes from the Internet, and if there is an infringement dispute, it will be deleted