Could Egypt Host the Olympics? Ministry of Sports Has a Plan for 2036

Egypt’s Ministry of Youth and Sports is set to throw its hat into the ring and submit a formal application to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the Olympic Games in 2036.

Ashraf Sobhi, the Minister of Youth and Sports, revealed that he recently held a meeting with Mustapha Berraf, the president of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa, where Berraf expressed the union’s keenness for Egypt to host the  2036 Olympic Games.

Construction is currently underway on a multi-million-dollar sports complex dubbed the ‘Egypt International Olympic City’ in the New Administrative Capital. The project is set to feature a 90,000 person stadium, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, tennis courts, and an indoor venue.

In the past, IOC President Thomas Bach voiced his desire to see African nations host the Games as it remains the only populated continent that hasn’t.

The last African nation to bid for the Games was South Africa for the 2004 Games, but it lost out to Athens, and finished third out of five bidders in the poll in 1997. 

For the 2036 Games, India, Russia, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine have all expressed an interest in bidding alongside Egypt.