A total of seven nations are 'interested parties' for the 2036 Games, with a final shortlist drawn up by the International Olympic Committee in March 2027.

India, Germany and Qatar are just three out of seven countries that are in the running to host the 2036 Olympics.

The three countries, alongside Hungary, Turkey, South Africa and South Korea, are in preliminary talks with the International Olympic Committee, with a shortlist to ​be drawn up in March next year and some countries progressing to a ​strategic dialogue phase.

"Wherever the Games take place, one thing must never change: athletes ⁠have to be at the heart of everything we do," said IOC President Kirsty ​Coventry. "That is why, for every future host, delivering the best possible experience for the athletes must ​always be the starting point.”

Only two countries on the shortlist – Germany and South Korea – have hosted the Games. Berlin and Munich hosted it in 1936 and 1972 respectively, while Seoul held the Olympics in 1988.

If Munich, which is Germany's candidate city for the 2036 Games, wins then the country will have hosted the World Athletics Championships (2031) and Olympics in the space of five years.

India has never hosted the Olympics and the nation will view the Commonwealth Games in 2030 – staged in Ahmedabad – as somewhat of a test event for the Games.

Qatar, having held the 2022 World Cup, will be aiming to be the first Muslim-majority nation to host the ​world's biggest multi-sports event. South Africa held the 2010 World Cup and would be the first ever African nation to stage the Games.

South Korea has hosted both summer and winter Olympics in Seoul ​in 1988 and Pyeongchang ​in 2018.

Hungary, which most recently bid ​for the 2024 Games, has never held the Olympics. Turkey has tried and failed to bid for it on five occasions.

Preferred hosts will ⁠be named after the strategic dialogue phase in 2028 and a final decision is expected in mid-2029. A shortlist will be drawn up in March 2027 before feasibility assessments begin.

Before the final vote takes place, it us likely that more than one ⁠country ​will be named as preferred hosts, unlike in past votes ​where just one bidder was put forward by the IOC executive board.

Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympics ​and Brisbane will stage them four years later.