Only a few more days till the
opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi ,
Russia Russia
and globally.
These games have been reported to have cost around 30 billion pounds, although the exact amount has not been officially released by the organizers. If it’s true, the games in Sochi
would be by far the most costly; even three times the amount London
paid to host the 2012 summer games. That is a lot of money for a country that
is still trying to develop into an economic powerhouse, where large sections of
the population still live in conditions much like in the old Soviet days.
Apart from the huge cost of holding
the games, reports of corruption and abuse against the tens of thousands of
foreign workers brought into construct the venues for the games has shown the
world what a shambles these games have become. Some of the International
Olympic Committee and others have concerns that billions have been pocketed by developers
close to President Putin and other key officials. On top of the reported
corruption, abuse and non payment of foreign workers have highlighted the lack
of respect for human rights that Russian officials and game organizers have.
The number one concern just days
till the event kicks off is the threat of a terrorist attack, from a number of
possible groups or individuals with grievances against the Russian state. At
this event Al-Qaeda are not of concern, but more home grown terrorist threats
are. Sochi is only a few thousand
miles away from the Chechen border, where Russia
has been fighting a brutal guerrilla war against separatist rebels for a number
of decades. Various groups from Chechnya
and others have threatened to target Sochi
and the games. Earlier bombings in other cities nearby in December and January
have shown what threat these games are under, even with such a large security
presence.
President Putin and the organizers can
not take all the blame, the IOC has also some criticisms concerning how bidding
cities and countries are granted hosting rights. I do wonder at times how
certain cities and countries are selected to hold major sporting events. Much
like FIFA’s granting of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar
(a country with a bad human rights record, especially against foreign workers,
and weather conditions not suited to holding a football event during a northern
summer), Sochi is also a bad choose
for holding a Winter Olympic games. As mentioned earlier, Russia does not have
a good human rights record, corruption has been rife through out the seven
years since been granted the games, there are major security concerns due to
the close proximity to the Chechen border, and on top of this there is not
enough snow fall in Sochi, compared to past winter Olympics.
This is not the first Olympics that
the IOC has granted to a county been accused of major human rights abuses and
perceived inability to stage an international sporting event. In 2001, the IOC
granted the 2008 summer games to Beijing , China
Perhaps the IOC and other
international sporting associations should consider more carefully which cities
and countries will host major sporting events in the future. I do acknowledge
that all courtiers have the rights to hosting these events, not just a select
few, but stricter criteria perhaps should be placed on a bidding nation. I
think that this would further encourage perspective countries to address issues
of security, human rights and corruption concerns, which many of the recent
major sporting events have experienced.
The international community will
probably never know the exact extent of
corruption or human rights abuses, but already the Sochi games have shown what
a shambles they have become and show signs of continuing on this path, although
I do hope for the athletes sack, who have been preparing for four years, and
travelling spectators that all goes well.
