Bad sport

It has begun already! The dark veil of boredom is slowly settling over the world of sport and – though interspersed with the occasional twinkling of light – the Olympics continues to rank as one of sport's worst abuses of taxpayers' money. One only has to look at Athens in 2004 and observe how the Greek government managed to throw away $10billion. The Beijing Games will probably cost around $40 billion, although the estimates vary widely. Meanwhile the estimates for the 2012 London Olympics keep spiralling ever upwards, currently around £10 billion.

All of us could spend the money better than any bureaucrat. Perhaps, in extremis, we would even pay to watch the Games so as to actually make it a viable sporting occasion. When compared to that other quadrennial event, the World Cup, the Olympics comes up woefully short on value for money. Even the South African World Cup in 2010 will only cost $3.7 billion – and that's mainly due to it being completely unsuited to host a World Cup and needing to upgrade its infrastructure. The difference is that the World Cup continually makes large profits and thus justifies the investment.

The modern Olympic games is little more than a political junket that deigns to include the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 2012 all the best hotels will be booked out for visiting dignitaries, roads will be specially adapted so that they may travel without incident and, of course, they’ll be able to watch the Games without the burden of purchasing a ticket.

It’s time for the UK to set an example. Short of giving the Games to Paris and letting them enjoy the invasion, we should petition the IOC to stage the qualifiers around the world throughout the following 4 years so that only the best from each region qualifies for the finals. For the finals of all the events are the small twinkles of lights in the sea of dirge that is the modern Olympics and they really should be the only things that we have foisted on us!

Britain's Olympics - £10m? You must be kidding!
written by notaneconomist, August 08, 2008

My guess is that £10m will end up being very wide of the mark. No government would not allow this project to fail - imagine the political embarrassment. And that applies for whatever party is in power - Brown's New Labour or Cameron's Tories. What is the mecehanism that will enforce cost curtailment if the cost spirals? Ulitmately, in the market place there is the prospect of business failure and liquidation. As I have already suggested that just won't happen with the Olympics 'cos the incentives are there for the politicaian to just keep pouring more and more money into the thing. And budget monitoring by bureaucrats is not a satisfactory, effective alternative.

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written by Steve Giess, August 08, 2008

2012 - This is one of the few times that I wish France had got its way .

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written by Derek W. Buxton, August 08, 2008

The "Olympic Committee" are on the same level as the UN, the EU, and all the other "tranzi" bodies that have taken over every thing. The whole Olympic thing should be scrapped - NOW. Really it should have been scrapped after (or before for preference) the Berlin Games. The Games are not what it says on the tin, it is one large scale fraud.

Written by Steve Bettison
Friday, 08 August 2008
It has begun already! The dark veil of boredom is slowly settling over the world of sport and – though interspersed with the occasional twinkling of light – the Olympics continues to rank as one of sport's worst abuses of taxpayers' money. One only has to look at Athens in 2004 and observe how the Greek government managed to throw away $10billion. The Beijing Games will probably cost around $40 billion, although the estimates vary widely. Meanwhile the estimates for the 2012 London Olympics keep spiralling ever upwards, currently around £10 billion. All of us could spend the money better than any bureaucrat. Perhaps, in extremis, we would even pay to watch the Games so as to actually make it a viable sporting occasion. When compared to that other quadrennial event, the World Cup, the Olympics comes up woefully short on value for money. Even the South African World Cup in 2010 will only cost $3.7 billion – and that's mainly due to it being completely unsuited to host a World Cup and needing to upgrade its infrastructure. The difference is that the World Cup continually makes large profits and thus justifies the investment. The modern Olympic games is little more than a political junket that deigns to include the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In 2012 all the best hotels will be booked out for visiting dignitaries, roads will be specially adapted so that they may travel without incident and, of course, they’ll be able to watch the Games without the burden of purchasing a ticket. It’s time for the UK to set an example. Short of giving the Games to Paris and letting them enjoy the invasion, we should petition the IOC to stage the qualifiers around the world throughout the following 4 years so that only the best from each region qualifies for the finals. For the finals of all the events are the small twinkles of lights in the sea of dirge that is the modern Olympics and they really should be the only things that we have foisted on us! Bookmark Comments (3) Subscribe to this comment's feed Britain's Olympics - £10m? You must be kidding! written by notaneconomist, August 08, 2008 My guess is that £10m will end up being very wide of the mark. No government would not allow this project to fail - imagine the political embarrassment. And that applies for whatever party is in power - Brown's New Labour or Cameron's Tories. What is the mecehanism that will enforce cost curtailment if the cost spirals? Ulitmately, in the market place there is the prospect of business failure and liquidation. As I have already suggested that just won't happen with the Olympics 'cos the incentives are there for the politicaian to just keep pouring more and more money into the thing. And budget monitoring by bureaucrats is not a satisfactory, effective alternative. ... written by Steve Giess, August 08, 2008 2012 - This is one of the few times that I wish France had got its way . ... written by Derek W. Buxton, August 08, 2008 The "Olympic Committee" are on the same level as the UN, the EU, and all the other "tranzi" bodies that have taken over every thing. The whole Olympic thing should be scrapped - NOW. Really it should have been scrapped after (or before for preference) the Berlin Games. The Games are not what it says on the tin, it is one large scale fraud. Write comment This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment. Powered by Azrul's Jom Comment for Joomla!