Egypt wants to become the first African nation to host the Olympics in 2032, one of its sports officials said Tuesday, according to Egyptian media.
There are no official bids yet for the 2032 Games, which are expected to be awarded to a host city in 2025.
Egypt unsuccessfully bid for the Olympics with Alexandria in 1916 (canceled due to World War I) and showed interest with Alexandria in 1936 and 1940, according to the OlyMADMen. Cairo was a candidate city for the 2008 Olympics but did not make the list of five finalists.
The closest an African bid came to getting the Olympics came in 2004, when Cape Town, South Africa, finished third behind Athens and Rome.
South African sports officials talked about a possible 2024 Olympic bid in 2015, but that did not come to fruition.
The India Olympic Association said in April that it planned to bid for the 2032 Games. India is the world’s second-most populous nation with 1.3 billion people.
India has never been an Olympic bid finalist but has held the Commonwealth Games. In 2010, the New Delhi-hosted multi-sport event came under fire for construction delays, poor infrastructure, unsanitary athletes’ village conditions and corruption.
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