Chennai poised to host 2029 Asian Athletics Championships pending Tamil Nadu guarantees

Chennai is on the verge of securing the rights to host the 2029 Asian Athletics Championships after the Asian Athletics Association discussed the bid at its 107th meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday. The decision remains conditional on formal assurances from the Tamil Nadu government.

The AAA's council considered the proposal in Tokyo and issued a conditional award in its meeting statement: "Subject to presentation of letters of guarantee from the Govt, Asian Athletics Association is pleased to award the 2029 Asian Athletics Championships to Chennai, Tamil Nadu." Final confirmation is expected once the state government submits the required financial and administrative guarantees.

C Latha, a senior official of the Tamil Nadu Athletics Association who was in Tokyo with the Indian contingent, said the necessary documents were due to be delivered imminently and described the presentation to the AAA. "We have made the presentation and the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) asked us to submit the financial and other guarantees from the state government. The AAA said they will award the 2029 Asian Championships to Chennai once they get the guarantees," Latha told PTI from Tokyo. "We are hoping to get the guarantees tomorrow from our state government. So, the final decision is expected to come tomorrow," she added.

World Athletics Vice President and Athletics Federation of India (AFI) spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla attended the meeting and confirmed the procedural condition attached to the award. He said Chennai would be granted the hosting rights once the necessary guarantees were received from the state government.

If the award is finalised, the 2029 edition will be the third time India has staged the Asian Athletics Championships, following Pune in 2013 and Bhubaneswar in 2017. Chennai is set to host the 28th edition of the biennial event in 2029.

India has several other athletics events planned in the coming years: Chandigarh is scheduled to host the Asian Relays Championships in August 2027, Bhubaneswar will stage both the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships and the World Indoor Athletics Championships in 2028, and the country is in the race to bring the World U20 Athletics Championships to Ahmedabad in 2028.

The 27th edition of the Asian Athletics Championships is scheduled to take place in Xiamen, China, between May 28 and June 2, 2027.