Amid his busy G20 Summit schedule in Bali, President Joko Widodo today took the time to announce that Indonesia is considering a bid for the 2036 Olympics, which he hopes can be staged in the future capital city Nusantara.
In a video he posted today, Jokowi said he conveyed to other world leaders Indonesia’s intention to host the Olympics in 14 years’ time.
“I underscored the importance of sports for health and its power to unite the world especially in the current global situation,” Jokowi said.
The Summer Olympic Games, a quadrennial event, is set to take place in Paris in 2024, LA in 2028, and Brisbane in 2032. In other words, all cities with existing sports cultures and infrastructure.
As of this article’s publication and until at least 2024, Nusantara is still under construction.
To be fair, Indonesia has shown that it is perfectly capable of staging a major sporting event, with the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang a remarkable success.
In fact, Jakarta was at one point considered for the 2032 Olympics before hosting rights went to Brisbane.
One can only imagine how much more costly it would be to stage the 2036 Olympics in Nusantara, which is designed as an administrative hub, over the tried-and-tested Jakarta.
One thing a Nusantara bid would have in its favor is time. Qatar serves as an example in this regard, as it built most of its soccer stadiums in the 12 years between the country winning FIFA World Cup hosting rights and the actual tournament this month. The Gulf nation shelled out some US$220 billion for all the necessary infrastructure development, while thousands of manual laborers reportedly died amid inhumane working conditions and other abuses.
