The Hindu : A new ball game for India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 19, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

A new ball game for India

INDIA'S SUCCESSFUL BID to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi has been hailed as an extraordinary victory by sports administrators, prominent sportspersons, politicians, barons of industry and common folk alike. That India, which is home to almost half the population of the British Commonwealth of nations, will be only the second Asian country (after Malaysia in 1998) to host the prestigious, multi-discipline games is a matter of pride. The bid voted on at Montego Bay in Jamaica last week — New Delhi won 46 votes and its rival Hamilton, Canada, ended up with 22 — was not only put together in a thoroughly professional manner. It was also backed up with proselytising zeal by the Indian contingent, which included the batting legend Sunil Gavaskar. Although India has played host to two Asian Games, the first as early as in 1951, the Commonwealth Games to be held in the nation's capital seven years from now will be by far the biggest multi-sport event ever hosted by the country. The cost of the games, estimated at $422 million, could escalate to $600 million by the time it is put on stage in 2010.

In the larger context, India's victorious bid must be viewed against the background of the country's recently acquired assertive self-identity as a developing nation confidently marching into the new millennium, leaving behind the colonial chippiness and excess baggage of the past. And what better way to showcase the emerging identity than on a prestigious centre-stage in the world of sport? India's giant neighbour, China, showed the way by winning its bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing with a truly impressive show of infrastructure and all-round development. There will be real significance to New Delhi hosting, just two years after the Beijing Games, a multi-discipline event that is second only to the Olympics in sheer prestige and size. Not surprisingly, the Indian Olympic Association, the Union Government and the bid committee have received kudos from many quarters. The Confederation of Indian Industry has described the successful bid as "a turning point in the history of Indian sports." The CII, which already has a Memorandum of Understanding with the IOA, will be expected to play a key role in the financial success of the games in a nation whose government can ill afford to spend tens of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money on a mega-event.

Critics have already made the point that the Commonwealth Games are not good value for money: Indian sports are not developed to the extent that the host nation can make a big impression on the games. What is more, although these games are far less ungovernable and unwieldy than the Olympics, it will take a management miracle to make them economically viable. This is where the role of corporate India assumes enormous significance. The games' ultimate success will lie not only in how well the budgeted amount is spent on infrastructure development, on the games village and in sprucing up the nation's capital, but also in the Organising Committee's ability to run the big show without reaching too deep into the pockets of taxpayers. This is precisely the reason why it may be wise to include cricket — which at present is not among the 15 disciplines suggested — in the Delhi Games. Cricket is essentially a Commonwealth sport and its presence in the games will hugely boost the revenues expected, which are about $186 million. The IOA supremo, Suresh Kalmadi, insists that the hosts do have the option of including cricket. But if the ultimate success of these games — both commercial and popular — is to be spoken for, the option of inserting the nation's favourite sport in the New Delhi games must be exercised sooner than later.

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