What a Shambles the Sochi Games have become

Only a few more days till the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, with thousands of athletes and spectators arriving in mass to compete and watch the games, that have been criticized by many, both in 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, for the first time in its history. Although, the games went without any major security or other incidents, except for the pro Tibetan protests during the Olympic flame relay, the games were some what overshadowed by China’s bad human rights record, corruption during the organization of the games, and restrictions placed on  the international press and spectators.

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.