Sport is the investment of the future
Source:www.insidethegames.biz
By Cathy Wood at the Global Sports Industry Congress in London
Awarding major events such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the FIFA World Cup to emerging nations have far reaching economic, political and social benefits according to speakers at the opening session of the Global Sports Industry Congress in London.
Dmitry Chernyshenko , chief executive officer of the Sochi Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2014, opened the Congress by explaining Russia had a clear and deliberate strategy to host as many international events as possible, a plan already reaping rewards.
Apart from the 2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Russia will also host the World Athletics Championships in Moscow in 2013 and the first ever Formula One race, in Sochi in 2014.
"Sport can be the greatest catalyst for change," said Chernyshenko.
He also revealed the strategy had resulted in legacy benefits including an opportunity for people to sign up to become volunteers, new green building standards in Sochi which will then be implemented throughout the city, and new standards for people with disabilities.
Faruk Nafiz Ozak, Turkey's State Minister for Youth and Sport, was another platform speaker to pick up on the positive effect big sporting events can have on society.
"We should create environments for people to do sport from 7-70," he said. "We should keep in mind the conscience of social responsibility."
And he revealed Turkey's ambition to host the biggest multi-sport event in the world remain undimmed.
"Our achievements so far show Turkey is ready to host the Olympic Games," he said, adding "sport is the investment of the future".
Jeanine Pires, Director of Rio 2016, touched on two core strands that need to be in place for a city, like Rio, to successfully host the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
First, there needs to be a policy of social inclusion and, second, there has to be economic stability and growth.
Pires explained that since 2003 more than 30 million Brazilians had overcome poverty and that over the same period a programme of after-school activities, called Second Half Time, had helped more than 3.5 million children at social risk.
Between 2014 and 2016 Brazil will host both the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games both of which, according to Pires, are opportunities to show the world what emerging nations can achieve.
"The goals are going to be improving the infrastructure, the sports legacy of high performance sport and to use sport values to educate and include young people in Brazil," she said.
"It is a way to end stereotypes," Pires added. "Sometimes the general public think we are not able to deliver big sporting events.
"You heard that about South Africa."
Patrick Baumann, Secretary General of FIBA and an IOC member, told Congress that International Federations, looking to award events to emerging nations, often face issues around culture and a lack of people with skill in organising events.
One emerging nation to experience very public difficulties was Delhi as it prepared for the Commonwealth Games last month.
But Mike Hooper, chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Games Federation, who was among the Congress audience, said it was absolutely the right decision to award the Games to India.
"Yes there were real issues," he said, "but I believe the measure of the success of the Games was from an athlete perspective.
"The athletes would look back and say they were a great Games."