Mani Speaks, Money Sings

The Commonwealth Games has once again hogged the headlines for the wrong reasons. This time, former Sports Minister Mani Shankar Iyer has expressed doubts over the success of the games, leveled bribery charges, raised concerns over the escalating costs and maintained that the funds could have been better utilized for developing sports in the country as also developmental activities. On expected lines, the Organising Committee and the Congress party have defended the games. The spat has once again sparked off a fresh round of debate whether a poor country like India can afford to spend so much money on just building sports infrastructure.

Reports of thousands of tonnes of wheat rotting in a nation where millions find it hard to arrange two square meals a day only substantiates this argument. Moreover, except in cricket and in some individual games such as snooker, badminton, chess etc, we are yet to arrive on the world stage as a major sporting nation. China hosted the Olympics after becoming a sports power to reckon with internationally.

Yes, we need more warehouses to store grain in this country than stadia, which are more often used to organize music concerts and mango festivals. Delhi can do with more planning and less flyovers and subways. The upgradation of the airport and the expansion of the Metro need not be linked to the Games. But yes, we can certainly do without demolishing the existing tiled footpaths and laying new ones in their place. There is certainly more to the expenses than meets the eye. Many new billionaires have been created, courtesy the sticky fingers on the games funds.

Yet, isn’t it too late now to call the bluff? We are only two months away from the games and most certainly, this is not the time to hang the boots. All the advantages and disadvantages of hosting the event should have been thought about before making the bid in the first place. For the time being, let us put our acts together and make the Games a resounding success, an event that the World will remember for a long, long time like the Beijing Olympics and the recent soccer World Cup in South Africa.

As I mentioned in my last piece, let the Commonwealth Games be the catalyst for turning into a global sports power. Let these new stadia and sports complexes serve as the foundations to nurture our budding talents across the country.

As for the corruption involved, we can always have a Joint Parliamentary Committee or a CBI probe once the games are over. Investigations into corruption, after all, has itself become a national sport and entertainment over the years with the ‘Common Man’ ending up as the jest or the joker. Why ‘Commonwealth’ should be an exception?