Introduction
The Olympics have violated Rule 50 of the International Olympic Committee, which prohibits demonstration, political, religious, or racial propaganda in Olympics venues or sites. The violation has made Olympics engage in lousy behavior such as corruption, sexism, and discrimination of the poor residents that have been displaced for the target of giving way for new Olympics venue (Cornelissen, 2019). Apart from the lousy behaviors, the Olympics need a lot of funds to sustain it, which negatively affects the country’s economy. Thus, this paper will discuss some of the facts that claim that the Olympics has to be canceled for it has a more negative impact on the country than its benefit.
Reasons to Cancel Olympics
Olympics is a high-risk megaproject; it contains a rock-solid completion date that has to be met. Other megaprojects such as dams and highways have an extension dateline to be completed compared to Olympics. The hosting process of the Olympics is very expensive; For instance, the Olympics hosting process may take approximately eleven years for preparation before the games are held in the cities. Olympics national applicants bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at an entry fee of 150,000 dollars, and only three to five cities are picked as the finalist (Cornelissen, 2019). The bids are so expensive that they are nonrefundable to applicants who bid but never get a chance to be the finalists.
Olympics has taken the lives of several people during the protest and state violence. For instance, the research shows that in 1968, during Summer Olympics, Mexican students staged a protest claiming that the government used more funds for gaming rather than social programs. The Mexican Army opened fire on the protesters killing more than two hundred and injuring more than one thousand (Cornelissen, 2019). Munich massacre that occurred in 1972 is another example of a massacre due to the Olympics. Seven terrorists affiliated with the Black September organization snuck into the Olympic village, killed two members of the Israel Olympic team, and kidnapped nine others to bargain for the release of two hundred Palestinian prisoners.
Olympics cost a significant sum which has to be paid by the taxpayers, who do not benefit from the games. The cost of the Olympics is dynamic; it may rise in some seasons and be greater than before. For example, in 1970, the Montreal Olympics took $120 million, which rose in 1973 to $ 310 million. At the end of these two years, the final cost was thirteen times greater than $1.6 billion (Cornelissen, 2019). It took more than twenty years to clear the Olympic debt, which hugely affects most taxpayers; this example shows how the Olympics can affect its economy, growth, and development.
Conclusion
Despite the Olympic violating Rule 50 of IOC, it also has lousy behavior, negatively affecting most participating countries; thus, it has to be canceled. For instance, the Olympics is a high-risk megaproject that contains a rock-solid completion date to be met. Olympics has to be canceled for it leads to the massacre that takes the life of innocent people during the protest and state violence. Lastly, it has to be canceled for it uses the significant sum of money which has to be paid by the taxpayers.
Reference
Cornelissen, S. (2019). Book Review: The Olympics: The Olympics: A Critical Reader. Political Studies Review, 11(1), 121-122. https://doi.org/10.1111/1478-9302.12000_75
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