Want to become a writer at Eat My News? Here is an opportunity to join the Board of Young Leaders Program by Eat My News. Click here to know more: bit.ly/boardofyoungleaders
Process of Selecting the Host City:
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the authority in selecting the host city for the Olympic Games. A city submits an application to the IOC through its National Olympic commission or authority. Bids are submitted seven years in advance. This gives time for the cities to improve their infrastructure.
The IOC shortlists six cities to choose further. It then reduces the list to three cities. The IOC members visit the three cities, review the infrastructure and development plans in each city and talk with city leaders. The members submit the report to the IOC. Once a city has been selected, the plan has to be put into action.
Economic Difficulties in Hosting the Olympics:
Firstly, interested cities have to spend money on submitting bids. This include cost for consultation, planning and organizing events, etc. For instance, Tokyo spent as much as $150 million for its failed bid in 2016. Once a city is selected, it has nearly a decade to put its plans to work and prepare for the influx of the athletes and visitors from other countries.
There are hundreds of events that athletes take part in. So, the host city has to bear the cost of building of new stadiums and sports facilities for it to host such events. There’d be millions of visitors from other countries looking to visit the city to watch the games live. So, the city has to bear the cost of building more hotels for accommodation of visitors.
The city has to work on providing security as well. Since the attack on Israeli athletes in Munich, host cities have taken extra precaution in terms of providing security for athletes. Sydney spent $250 million in 2000 while Athens spent over $1.5 billion in 2004.
There’s also the problem of hosting the opening and closing ceremonies. The cost associated with that alone would be too much to bear. The cost of the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics was £27 million. And it was held as one of the best opening ceremonies of all time.
Can an Indian City Host the Olympics?
There are several factors that have to be taken into consideration here. For a city to host the games, it needs to have the following-
- Infrastructure
- Safety
- Sports culture
- Space
- Budget
Cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata have an infrastructure of sorts. Bhubaneshwar has more modern facilities than the other cities. It rightfully has earned the name the “Sports Capital of India”. But it has no sports culture. For that matter, sports culture is absent in every Indian city. Sports culture is where a city’s population is active in almost every sport. Cricket is the most widely followed sport in our country; which most countries participating in the Olympics do not follow.
The Indian economy has also to be taken into account. We were already in a recession before COVID-19. With our GDP currently at 4.2%, it will take time for our economy to recover. In addition to the existing corruption and red-tapism, no Indian city is currently fit enough to host an event of that magnitude. This could cause several problems for the Indian taxpayer.
There is also the problem of abandoned venues and stadiums. Once the games are over, the stadiums would remain abandoned and of no further use. For instance, the Olympic Baseball Stadium at the Helliniko Olympic complex in Athens, Greece remains abandoned due to Greece's economic frailties after the Olympic Games and lack of further investment. The Indian taxpayer cannot afford such situations.
Ever since Rio de Janeiro was selected to host the Olympics in 2016, a cascade of problems arose. From increasing crime rate to corruption scandals, the Olympic games in 2016 was marred with controversy after controversy.
The president of the Indian Olympic Association, Narinder Batra expressed India’s interest in hosting the Olympic games with New Delhi being named as a possible city to submit a bid.
Written by - Gnaneshwar Ranjan
Edited by - Nidhi Verma
0 Comments