Opinion Learning the lessons from Athens
Six years on,the good press that Greece got for staging its Games has vanished
While covering the Greek football team in Euro-2008,a Greek sports columnist came to a restaurant in a picturesque Swiss mountain village and got to talking to the owner. The championship,the columnist suggested,would be great for the restaurants business. To the journalists surprise,the notion gave the owner a panic attack. It was good if the games brought a few stray tourists like the Greek columnist to the village,and some attention to Switzerland,the owner was saying. But if the soccer championships actually started interfering with everyday life,then no thanks.
This story reminded me that even in a well-run and serene country like Switzerland,staging a big-time sports championship is a mixed blessing at best. As the Commonwealth Games in Delhi were staged,many asked whether the aggravation and scrutiny that come with staging such colossal events is worth the time,money and effort.
Coming from Athens,it definitely was nice to see my country enjoy 30 days of good international press. But in retrospect I think I could have lived without it,considering how easily the same international press now bashes the same Greeks as profligate,lazy and irresponsible over the debt crisis.
The Indians are being subjected to the same derogatory coverage today. In many ways the international media,mostly based in affluent Western countries,is behaving like the Swiss restaurant owner: they expect some far-off country to stage a complicated event impeccably and so provide their clients with a month of exciting sports stories.
If somehow the plan doesnt pan out,the same media accuse and condemn a country,a people,a political system or whatever else may seem responsible for less-than-perfect games. And what if a state does manage to pull it off,as South Africa did? In that case,the country is left with good memories along with useless stadiums and huge debts.
Thats because whether the games go well or badly,the game is fixed against the host country. Fail and prepare yourself for international shame. Succeed and be ready to savour a few days of positive international press followed by many years of lost opportunities. The true winners of the games will have already taken the money and run to the next willing destination.
The model of international sports competitions is flawed. Countries are sold on a promise of increased visibility,tourist revenue or even more geopolitical weight. What they get is a greedy circus that leaves with the profits after having irrevocably scarred city-centers and open spaces,and left states and municipalities to deal with debts and maintenance costs.
The only wave of urban terrorism in Sweden in recent memory occurred when a few concerned citizens placed small explosive devices in front of stadiums in Stockholm to derail the citys bid for the 2004 Olympics. Such methods are reprehensible,of course,but they achieved their goal; Athens got the honour.
People need to awake to the reality that the profits of the Olympics and the World Cups are made at the expense of our cities and our countries. Scaling down our criticism of countries that fail to provide impeccable events is a good place to start.
ANGELOS CHRYSSOGELOS
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