India will host the World Indoor Athletics Championships for the first time in 2028 in Bhubaneswar as the international body on Thursday awarded the hosting rights of the prestigious event to the country at its council meeting in Torun, Poland. The decision was taken at the World Athletics Council meeting a day before the start of World Indoor Athletics Championships (March 20-22) in the Polish city.

"India has been awarded the World Indoor Athletics Championships for the year 2028," World Athletics vice president Adille Sumariwalla told PTI from Poland. AFI had revealed its bid for the 2028 World Indoor Championships earlier this year. A two-member team from World Athletics had visited the state-of-the-art indoor facility at the Kalinga Stadium Complex in Bhubaneswar in January. Along with Sumariwalla, also a World Athletics Council member and a former Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president, officials of the Odisha government had travelled to the Polish city. AFI president Bahadur Singh Sagoo said the development was an indication of the growing stature of Indian athletics in the international stage.