The Polish government has formally unveiled plans to host the Summer Olympic Games for the first time, in either 2040 or 2044.
The country's 'Warsaw 2040 Sports Development Strategy' has now been unveiled, with the aim of upgrading the country's national sporting infrastructure and venues.
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The program will launch in 2026 and will reportedly include the equivalent of $24 billion in investment, as well as a four-year funding cycle for the various Polish sports governing bodies.
Poland has never before submitted a bid to host the Summer Olympics, but has done so twice for the Winter Games, first for the 2006 edition, and then for the 2022 games.
This announcement comes with Poland's Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, having first stated last August that the country would look to stage either the 2040 or 2044 Olympics (initially, in 2023, the country's President Andrzej Duda said efforts would focus on the 2036 edition, but that has now changed).
The country's sports minister, Jakub Rutnicki, has reportedly now said: "The games in Poland are possible but they must be a joint project transcending political divisions and accepted by the entire sports and political community.”
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By GlobalDataHe added that hosting an Olympic Games in Poland would act as "the culmination of a broad change" in terms of increased sporting activity in the European country.
The bidding, as mentioned in the sports development strategy, will focus on the country's capital, Warsaw.
While Poland has not hosted Olympic action before, it did host the European Games two years ago, while in soccer, it co-hosted the 2012 UEFA European Championships, alongside Ukraine.
Other expected bidders for the 2040 Olympics include South Africa (with this being announced earlier in November) and Germany (although that submission could end up being for 2036 instead).
The mayor of London has also publicly backed that UK city as a potential 2040 host.
The International Olympic Committee has not yet made the timeline for a selection of the host city public.
