I was in Class 12, when the Asian Games were held in New Delhi in 1982.
The Games inauguration by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is still fresh in my mind. Reaching the Nehru Stadium from my residence in West Kidwai Nagar -- better known now as the colony next to Dilli Haat -- was easy. At that time, DTC had come out with daily pass schemes.
Twenty five years later, to be precise on April 17, 2007, when news came from Kuwait the New Delhi had lost the bid I was a bit sad. But in a few minutes I realised the wisemen who had spoken bombastically about New Delhi's chances had somewhere messed up in their vote calculations big time.
Again, in less than an hour -- I have access to wires all the time at work -- IOA bosses had started the blame game. This time, it was none other than Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar who was the villain of the piece!
Well, I have met Mr Aiyar a few times, and he did come across as someone not very happy India should be spending (or wasting?) such huge sums of money on holding the mega events. And he makes it clear he is still not in fsvour of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Let me tell you, I am not a fan of Mr Aiyar, but I think even within the Government framework, there are a lot of people who are happy India has lost the bid.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games are not far away. I still remember, as a school boy when I saw the roads being redone and flyovers coming up for the 1982 Asiad, the skyline had begun to change. The development was fantastic and the Games went on well.
But in 2007, when New Delhi wanted to bid for the 2014 Games, a gamut of factors changed. Today, winning the Asiad bid is not as easy as our sports heads think it is. Pompous speeches and presentation are just one part of the story.
Incheon -- I found it on the map courtesy google --- looks a small place. But the way the Koreans got their act together was amazing. More money was just one factor, but they had also made sure their neighbours were going to suppoprt them, with China making its stand clear.
So as the New Delhi bid bandwagon returns, it would make sense if they do a honest post-mortem of why they lost the bid. An embarrassment in the world stage for sure.
Hopefully now, the IOA bosses will next not try to tell we sports lovers India is now going to bid for the Olympics!!
And even if they do, take it with a big pinch of salt.
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S.Kannan's personal blog on sport in India and overseas. All views in this blog are my own and do not reflect that of any organisation.
1 comment:
The piece is very interesting.
The personal touch lends considerable weight.
To be honest, when we talk about holding such a big event, we often forget the cost that goes into it. I agree with Mr Aiyar's point of view that you need to broad base the sports in the country rather than go for such big games.
If I am not a bit mistaken, usually countries that have hosted have gone on to excel in the Games. India's show is slightly inconsistent in spite of having hosted two Games. So, maybe money can be spent elsewhere.
Talk about Delhi gaining, I think, Delhi is seeing enough of development already through Commonwealth. If that is done in right earnest, it can be quite a lot.
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