India and the Games

Bizsport

What are India's chances of hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games? It's a bid based on hope, but laced with some cold strategy.

I say hope, because the go-getting Indian Olympic Association President, Suresh Kalmadi, has personally done the rounds to get government approvals at every step. To that, I add cold strategy, because India has never hosted the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.

In this day and age, where the mantra is "spreading the message", getting a global event to a country with the world's second largest market will not be lost on the global business community.

"Only one Asian country has held it so far, the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in 1998, while countries like Canada have hosted it four times. Australia and New Zealand three times each, and the British Isles six times. Doesn't India deserve a chance?" asks Kalmadi.

He has a point. Also, don't forget that India has, of late, been establishing its claims in the sporting arena "" and its wins aren't limited only to cricket.

The success of Indian tennis duo Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, Vishwanathan Anand in chess "" it's still not an Olympic sport, but will make its Asian Games debut in 2006 "" and Anjali Vedpathak, Abhinav Bindra, Jaspal Rana, Rajavardhan Rathore and others in shooting, has indicated that there is a great deal of medal-winning talent.

Add the recent exploits of the men's and women's hockey teams and the athletics success of Anju George in world championships, and there is enough justification in India claiming the right to host a Commonwealth Games.

The Afro-Asian Games, after being on the drawing board for almost 10 years, will finally be held later this month in Chandrababu Naidu-land, Andhra Pradesh.

If Kalmadi was the first full-time politician to spot the potential of sport to further both image and business, Naidu has caught on fast. He wants to turn Andhra Pradesh into India's sports hub.

Over the years, Kalmadi has set a high benchmark with high-profile athletics meets featuring the likes of Carl Lewis and Sergei Bubka.

He has ensured the conduct of the Afro-Asian Games. The games may not be very popular now, but a concept has taken shape.

"Maybe in 10 to 15 years, when the Afro-Asian Games become a regular global feature, India will be remembered for its contribution, just as it is for Asian Games, the inaugural edition of which it hosted in 1951," says Kalmadi.

The high-profile politician knows his history and geography well. When the Centre didn't show enough interest, he found in Naidu a perfect partner to stage the Afro-Asian Games. Now, as Kalmadi bids for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Naidu is talking about the 2016 Asian Games.

OVER the last two decades, the hosting of all major Games, be they Asian, Commonwealth or Olympics, have been closely linked to creating business opportunities for the host country.

China did it by hosting a series of world-level events and they have the Olympics coming up in 2008; Seoul did it with the Olympics in 1988 and then built on it with the co-hosting of the football World Cup and the Asian Games in 2002.

Malaysia, which has become a major sporting venue in Asia, hosted the best ever Commonwealth Games in 1998. It also has an eye on the 2010 Asian Games after having lost out to Qatar for the 2006 edition.

Take the case of Qatar. When it fought against Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and New Delhi, which were last-minute entrants in the race for the 2006 Asian Games, the front-runner was Malaysia, because it had only two years earlier hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1998.

But the bid evaluators for the Asian Games 2006 felt Qatar could deliver the goods. And it would also take the Games to a new region.

It is now 2003 and the venue for 2010 Commonwealth Games will be decided next month.

New Delhi is slugging it out with Hamilton, which hosted the inaugural Commonwealth Games in 1930. It is a straight contest, in which the Asian and African countries' support will count a lot for India.

If India does get the Games, they will come at a time when the country needs them to boost its position as a global player in all fields.

India can position itself as a future destination for business and tourism and hosting the Commonwealth Games will play a huge role in this.