The futility of building sports infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games
Most of the sporting facilities for the Delhi Commonwealth Games were built during the 1982 Delhi Asiad. They are now being upgraded to modern standards for the 2010 Games. Which means that they were in an almost ancient state and have not undergone any upgrades for 27 years. This could have happened in only one scenario;that most of these stadia have not hosted an international event of any stature since they played host to the Asian Games in 1982. Because if they had done so, then there would have surely been some upgrades. There is also a lot of renovation and repair going on which clearly indicates that these facilities were poorly maintained and looked after for all these years. Our sportsmen and athletes have been practicing in these poorly maintained and ancient facilities.
It is for the lack of regular upgrades and proper maintenance that we are spending so much extra on the upgrades now. That a substantial portion of this money is filling various pockets is another story.Should we be spending this massive amount of money if all this infrastructure will remain largely underutilized and left to rot once the games are over? Is there any reason to believe that the new facilities will be properly maintained and well utilized to train world-class sports persons and host top-level international events? They will probably get a makeover when we host the next international event; say sometime in the 2030’s under the aegis of Suresh Kalmadi operating from a hospital bed.
Is it still a matter of great pride that we are hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games?
