Hosting major sports events

As our beloved country, the Maldives, gets ready to host a major sports event for the first time, it is easy to get swept away in all the excitement. But with all seriousness, is it really good for the future of our country? Well according to different people, the answer to this question differs. Some say it will help the economy of our country while others say it will crush it. So let us now answer the question at hand. Is it really a good idea to host a major sporting event in our country?

Hosting a major sporting event can be a massive undertaking and can cost thousands of dollars, but some say it comes with its benefits. The planning and investment from hosting major sporting events can help create jobs and bring back economically depressed cities. Just take the 2012 London Olympics as an example. Hosting the Olympics there, the UK saw a £9.9 billion increase in trade and investment. Hosting major sporting events can also create excitement among locals which can boost morale. This can in turn, increase the amount of people who play sports which has lasting benefits on health. In addition to this, hosting a major sporting event can increase volunteerism which promotes civic duties and community service. Investment from hosting an event like this could also let us see our country developing new road networks and infrastructure. All these benefits are just what the Maldives needs after the economic turmoil it has been through as a result of the pandemic.

According to Newton’s third law of motion, for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction and hosting a major sporting event really brings this law to light. With all the pros mentioned above, there can also be many cons. Hosting a major sporting event can cost significant sums and these sums can add up over time. Take for example the Montreal Olympics, which ended up costing 13-times the predicted amount. As a result, Montreal took over 30 years to pay off the debt. Worst of all, these costs are usually paid off by the taxpayer, which increases tax. To add to this, many of the giant expensive stadiums built for the events are never fully used again. This leaves us with big, unused, ghost-stadiums. If this couldn’t get any worse, hosting a sporting event at such a large scale could bring about negative publicity for the country if things go sour. Finally, local business can even be affected as major corporate donors are given the VIP treatment, which means that oftentimes, local suppliers who can’t afford to pay large sums are excluded from the event.

To conclude, after weighing all the pros and cons, I can safely say that I personally am not eager to hold a major sporting event in our country. I say this not because of the possibility of severe economic issues that hosting this event could cause, but because of all the possible negative publicity and restrictions on all locals due to higher levels of security. So, for all these reasons, I don’t believe that it is a good idea for us to hold a major sporting event in our country.