Sports quotient china’s postponement of asiad is suspicious india remains an also ran in mega event hosting

Sports quotient china’s postponement of asiad is suspicious india remains an also ran in mega event hosting

The decision to postpone the 2022 Asian Games, which was supposed to be held from September 10-25 in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, has taken the international sporting fraternity by surprise. While the current surge in Covid cases in China has been cited as the reason for the postponement, it is unlikely to be the sole factor. After all, China did host the Beijing Winter Olympics earlier this year in an extremely strict bio-bubble. And similar arrangements were planned for the Asian Games. Therefore, it’s quite possible that the latter was postponed because it was too close to the 20th Chinese Communist Party Congress and it would look bad for the Chinese leadership if the event turned into a super-spreader fiasco.

But what about India, which aspires to host major international sporting events? The Indian Olympic Association has confirmed it is interested in hosting the Olympics, while the Delhi government has said it aims to stage the Games in 2048. However, the infrastructure needed for such mega events remains elusive.

After all, bidding and hosting the Olympics, Asian Games or Commonwealth Games are expensive propositions. While countries like China do it for prestige, others like the UK and Australia see them as investments in domestic development. India is caught between the two – it grapples with budgetary constraints on the one hand, while poor execution results in marginal development gains. This is precisely what happened after the 2010 Commonwealth Games with all the upgraded infrastructure – from the Shyama Prasad Aquatic Complex to the velodrome at Indira Gandhi stadium – falling into disrepair and underutilisation. Add to this corruption and nepotism in various sports federations, and India’s overall sporting depth simply doesn’t make the mark. True, India will host the International Olympic Committee session in 2023 and it’s hoped this will open doors to hosting major events. But without a concrete and realistic action plan to boost overall sporting infrastructure and culture, little can be expected.