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Touchdown at Indira Gandhi International Airport of flight EK 510 from Dubai is 8.55 Monday morning. Sebastian Coe will be accompanied by Helen Delany, Director International Relations & Development of World Athletics, and CEO Jonathan Ridgeon. Just two hours later, at 11 a.m., the first of several meetings with representatives of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) is on the agenda.
The short trip to India has explosive implications for Olympic politics. The trip will be of burning interest not only to the six opponents of Sebastian Coe in the competition for the IOC presidency, but also to the candidates for the 2036 Summer Olympics. From one Olympic candidate, Hungary, where he has just met again with Secretary of State for Sports Ádám Schmidt, to the next, India, where a power that is considered to be a decisive factor in the IOC presidency issue rules: the Ambani family, which has close ties to incumbent IOC president Thomas Bach and his favourite Kirsty Coventry.
Sebastian Coe will meet, among others, India's Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, followed by Shri Ashwini Kumar, Sports Minister of the state of Gujarat, which has been chosen as a candidate region for the 2036 Olympic Games.
At 5 p.m. local time, the first of two real highlights of the trip, of course at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg: IOC presidential candidate Coe will be received by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
