Do you think that India would be a good host for Summer Olympics

[LuigiVercotti]

You could have easily made the prediction that the Olympic Games would be in China on July 28, 1984...the day the PRC Olympic team marched into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the opening ceremony of the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and made their arrival known.

Nice point. Let's not forget that LA was really the Wily Old Falangist's cherry popper when it came to Summer Olympics (he may have been president before the games started but it was Killanin who opened the Moscow Olympics) and as Samaranch must have been feeling very queasy about the boycotts leading into LA84 knowing that the world's most populous country was sending a team must have given him a tingle down in the toreador pants .

On the other hand India has generated about as much excitement as month old naan bread for the IOC and perhaps our friends in the Lausanne bunker have put the subcontinent in the 'too hard/why bother' basket for now. However by 2068 I'd say someone at the IOC might start asking if the Indians might be interested in hosting an IOC session.

[The Tower Bridge Fox]

The issue isn’t whether people think India can host an Olympics ,but Like London when it was biding for 2012 , it’s the fact that its has to regardless of what people think.

The Delhi games have been a success so that will be no obstacle.

[Sir Rols]

The issue isn’t whether people think India can host an Olympics ,but Like London when it was biding for 2012 , it’s the fact that its has to regardless of what people think.

The Delhi games have been a success so that will be no obstacle.

Don't count your chickens. I gotta say, despite expectations just two weeks ago, yes, so far I do agree that Delhi has been a success. But there's still one day to go - and I'm not gonna declare them a total success until the Men in Kilts take over at the handover. The summing up and final verdicts really still have to wait till tomorrow.

Also, there's no "have to" about it. Delhi may or may not one day host an Olympics - and I'd still say that's a posibility much later down the track rather than sooner. But India is not "owed" a games, or can be counted an inevitable future host. I can think of many more potential hosts with better or more likely claims for the games before India. And while the CWGs have appeared to have went off well, the lead-up is still going to dog India's future aspirations for the Olympics for a while.

[adrianme17]

I have really enjoyed the games - the Indians have built some great venues and have embraced the games ( granted rather late in the day ) but the scenes at the hockey and at the athletics the other day were amazing.

Can India host an Olympic games - sure why not? However - they would have to get a whole new team to ORGANISE the event - the guy in charge of these games should be ashamed of himself and the Indian government should launch an enquiry to find out where the games planning went wrong!

That said - the Indians have provided a memorable games - in more ways than one & i will be sad to see the games close today ( will be less than sad to no longer hear our Australian cousin's national anthem - lol)!

[4seasonscentre]

The Delhi games have been a success so that will be no obstacle.

Considering the state of affairs two weeks ago, I am really impressed with how ok things have turned out. However, I don't consider the games a success.

The athletes' arrival had to be delayed and stadiums were empty for the first few days. These sorts of international events are not a time for trial and error or on-the-job learning.

A sufficient ending to the games is not ground for a strong bid for the Olympic. Frankly, the games should go to cities with more reliable, efficient, and transparent government before they go to Delhi and there is no shortage of strong candidates.

[Rob2012]

They've been ok on the whole, especially considering their preparations. A success in terms of sport with some very good points but also many problems which should not have happened. Successful in some ways but my no means a complete success and most certainly not a model for an Olympic bid. Organisationally they have been pretty poor, but I don't watch a cwg for its level of organisation so can't say the games themselves have been poor. The IOC will watch the games with a more critical eye however.

It WILL make a difference to them that athletes were forced to change their plans whilst the village was cleaned.

It WILL matter to them that not enough tickets were printed and the head of ticketing was removed from his post mid-way through the Games.

It WILL matter to them that merchandising has been virtually non-existant with police closing down the merchandising kiosks within venues for health and safety reasons (only 17 out of the planned 63 had opened by that point anyway).

It WILL matter to them that venue construction was a huge rush with 19 seperate bodies building the venues rather than one.

It WILL (or ought to) matter to them that dozens died building the venues for these Games.

etc etc etc

Most of these things don't matter to a TV viewer or to the quality of sport on display, but they'll certainly matter to the IOC. There's the distinction you have to make in this discussion.

Edited October 14, 2010 by RobH

[adrianme17]

Well put Rob - watching the games it very different from the comfort of one's own home!! The games have been memorable but the Indian government needs to establish an enquiry to look at where the planning went wrong!!

[Rafa]

The Games verdict will have to wait but they have passed and in many cases only just.

We need to rebuild games, says Fennell

Paul Mulvey

October 14, 2010 - 9:09PM AAP

The Commonwealth has some of the best athletes in the world.

It's just a shame they didn't come to the Commonwealth Games.

Getting them to future Games is the key to the event's viability.

Advertisement: Story continues below <iframe id="dcAd-1-4" src="http://ad-apac.doubleclick.net/adi/onl.smh.news/news/breakingnewssport;cat1=sport;cat=breakingnewssport;ctype=article;pos=3;sz=300x250;tile=4;ord=8.7240261E7?" width='300' height='250' scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"> </iframe> It's a task the Commonwealth Games Federation knows is daunting and the ruling body even admits it needs to rebuild the image of its Games.

"It's a challenge. We have to ensure that we attract the best athletes," CGF president Mike Fennell said on the last day of the Delhi Games.

"The month of October, for the sport of athletics is not a good month, that was one of the elements which caused a lot of the big names not to be here.

"We have to look at the timing. Other competitors were turned off by the negative reports over security and other things. We have to project the product in a positive way.

"It's important to attract the best athletes and impress on them that it's important for their careers. We have to rebuild the brand ahead of Glasgow in 2014."

The Glasgow Games are being held in late July, a better time of the season for athletes, but a potential clash with the European athletics championships.

But Glasgow organisers have already been working with international sporting bodies to minimise clashes and potential withdrawals.

"We are at a different time of year, you can't underestimate the importance of that," Glasgow 2014 chief John Scott said.

Glasgow could present the future, as urged by Australian Commonwealth Games Association chief Perry Crosswhite who says the Games should scale down.

"I think you've probably got to look at whether the Commonwealth Games should be that big and whether it should have a huge opening ceremony," Crosswhite said during the Delhi Games.

From Delhi, a city of 17 million, the Games are handed over to Glasgow's 500,000 people.

The only two bids for the 2018 Games come from Gold Coast, also with a population of 500,000, and the Sri Lankan port town of Hambantota, population15,000.

From a main stadium in Melbourne in 2006 with a capacity of 100,000, Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium held 60,000, while Glasgow's Hampden Park will hold 46,000.

The Gold Coast bid will use Carrara Stadium with a capacity of 40,000.

"We think the future is pretty solid and the interest that's been shown by all the countries will continue to demonstrate the Commonwealth Games has a fixed place on the calendar of sports for the future," Fennell said.

But there seems to be a lack of interest, or variety, in bidding for the Games.

Gold Coast bid for the 2018 Games when the ACGA became concerned that it appeared the chaotic Nigerian capital Abuja was the only bid, until the Africans pulled out and Hambantota put in its unlikely application.

Delhi is only the third host city in 19 Commonwealth Games outside the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Manchester in 2002, Melbourne 2006 and Glasgow 2014 are pretty much the same Games with a different accent.

Despite the controversies Delhi had in staging the Games, at least India gave them some personality, so perhaps it's time to send them more regularly to the developing countries which make up the vast majority of Commonwealth nations.

Whether they have the capacity to stage the Games and attract the best athletes would be a thorny issue.

South Africa has shown it can host World Cup soccer and World Cup rugby tournaments, so let's see a Cape Town Commonwealth Games.

Or perhaps, Hambantota.