India still reeling from Commonwealth Games set-back
Countries generally relish the opportunity to provide venues for international sporting events. With journalists, athletes, and tourists pouring in from all corners of the globe, the host nation has the chance to showcase its wealth and prestige. The opening
ceremonies at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, for example, served as an unmistakable declaration of China’s leadership to the rest of the world: “We are strong. We are powerful. We are taking our rightful place on the world stage,” it seemed to suggest.
China’s southern neighbour, India, is also climbing out of relative economic obscurity and into a much-touted success story as an emerging Asian powerhouse. Therefore, its recent hosting of the XIX Commonwealth Games, featuring over 6,000 athletes from
over 70 countries, seemed like a perfect opportunity for the country to showcase its newly emerging position as a strong and modernizing state.
However, as already widely publicized, India didn’t repeat the Beijing performance. In addition to natural calamities like heavy monsoon rains, as well as a series of security and logistical snafus, the games suffered a plethora of man-made glitches like
a collapsing pedestrian bridge, a stadium ceiling caving in, a rugby scoreboard toppling over, and filthy living conditions in the athletes’ village.
Add in the corruption charges and allegations of shady back-room dealings that plagued the Delhi games, including a siphoning of public funds into the coffers of self-interested bureaucrats, and the result is a lot of egg on the faces of many Indian politicians.
With calls for public inquiries into these corruption charges coming from all corners, the Indian government recently overruled The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and declined to bid for the 2019 Asian Games.
The chaotic nature of India’s hosting of the Commonwealth games, coupled with its humble decision to avoid future national embarrassment, illustrates to the rest of the world that this country has some ways to go before it can proudly display the millionaires
and not its slums.
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