mid-day Opinion: Why isn’t the World Cup held here?

I have been reading a lot of news reports about problems associated with the football World Cup this year I go through them with increasing dismay for multiple reasons The past few weeks alone have seen a flurry of opinion pieces denouncing everything from the exorbitant price of tickets to the possibility of foreign players being denied entry into the United States for that countryrsquos usual reasons mdash worshipping the wrong religion or being the wrong colour There have also been warnings about match broadcasts and whether anyone in India will be able to watch the matches if streaming rights canrsquot be secured in timeIt all feels like a wasted opportunity to me because we shouldnrsquot have had to worry about this event at all The World Cup should simply have been held in IndiaThis has been a recurring complaint of mine given the noise that inadvertently surrounds any major sporting event year after year No matter what the sport is therersquos always a reminder that it could have been managed a lot better in the right hands I fail to understand how a country that can host a series of fabulous music performances without a hiccup mdash recent concerts by Guns N Roses and U2 come to mind mdash still cannot be seen as a serious contender for hosting the Olympics It feels as if the world isnrsquot paying attention or the Indian government isnrsquot promoting these accomplishments hard enoughI am aware that there are critics who believe India can never be taken seriously when it comes to sports because of the countryrsquos medal tally To these naysayers I would suggest looking beyond accolades to focus on infrastructure and sheer organisational ability Being mediocre at sports is not the same as being unqualified to manage a sporting event I would be surprised to find anyone who has attended an event in India accusing us of being poor managers Everything goes off smoothly here there is adequate food and drink hygiene standards are worldclass and female foreign tourists routinely comment on how safe they feel when surrounded by Indian men Most other countries canrsquot take these things for grantedWhat I will admit to is the need for minor changes when it comes to how India looks at sport I believe itrsquos more of a public relations problem than anything else because we arenrsquot showing as much enthusiasm as some countries do Consider Indiarsquos annual sports budget which is around 1 per cent of what China spends on its athletes and itrsquos easy to see why we have to do a bit of course correction on that front I propose spending a little less on other lessimportant things if only for a short while Imagine diverting funds from pod taxis towards the development of public playgrounds instead It could send the right kind of message about how this is a country that cares about giving children space to run and play which is something it hasnrsquot done in a long timeThe government may also have to address a few other concerns such as the relationship between undernourishment and the ability of most Indians to perform in a sporting arena although I can see how this has little to do with hosting a World Cup We should be focused on showcasing Indiarsquos rise as an economic powerhouse not winning medals at these events but it can be argued that even a bronze or two may make this public relations campaign a lot strongerAnother reason why I believe it is Indiarsquos time to shine is that it has now been a quarter of a century since the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports was established These 25 years may not have seen successes in terms of sporting glory but we have new stadiums named after the Prime Minister which ought to count for somethingItrsquos unfortunate that people outside India focus on nonissues such as financial irregularities unhygienic conditions or severe pollution when it comes to criticising India I believe the only way to counter this negativity is to keep advertising our rising status as a superpower and insist on being taken seriously as a potential Olympic or World Cup hostI hope the honourable Prime Minister will make this one of his many priorities in the coming months and travel more to promote India as a premier sporting destination I canrsquot think of a more qualified nation to host any event that involves coordination quality and large sums of moneyWhen he isnrsquot ranting about all things Mumbai Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet He can be contacted at wwwlindsaypereiracomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper