INDIAN GOVT MAY HAVE WANTED COMMONWEALTH GAMES BUT THE PEOPLE CLEARLY DIDN'T

Empty stands in Delhi

It is common knowledge that Indians are passionate about cricket. It is a sport that dominates the nation. Sachin Tendulkar is their hero, and MS Dhoni is rapidly becoming a national icon. The same can be said of the great Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. Yes, India loves their cricketers, but what about other sports?
I suppose they like many international stars. We know they love Usain Bolt and that was why the Commonwealth Games organisers wanted so badly for Bolt to attend. The organisers were willing to pay the world’s fastest man millions so that he would be available for the 10-day event.
That was not to be and as such spectators have stayed away from the stadium hosting the track and field this past week. They have also stayed away from many of the other sporting events in Delhi. Empty stadia has become the norm as the Commonwealth Games enters its second week.
We were told that when the track and field started last week, there was about 10,000 in the JN Stadium. Gleaner reporter Andre Lowe said that it was a good day in terms of fan support. Oh, did I mention that the 10,000 turned out in a stadium built to accommodate 60,000? It was a virtual drop in the bucket.
It has been the same for the swimming, netball, and all the 15 other sports that are being contested.
I suppose you could argue that the absence of the major track stars may have kept the crowds away from the athletics, but how do you explain the other sports?
Mike Fennell, while justifying why India was awarded the games, suggested that the country is the largest in the Commonwealth with a population of 1.2 billion and it was inevitable that India would be awarded the games.
But what did the people of India want? Based on their response to the games so far, they are not interested in the Commonwealth Games. The organizers cant even give tickets away.
Why? No one knows for sure. What is clear is that these games are clearly not what the people want. These Commonwealth Games, for all the US2.5 billion invested in them, still doesn’t make it cricket.