Looking beyond Cricket World Cup
Editorial
Kaieteur News
April 24, 2007
The Guyana leg of Cricket World Cup 2007 is over and it is now for the various national entities to capitalise on their expenditure that led to the successful hosting of what is considered the third largest sporting event in the world after World Cup football and the Summer Olympics. In every case, the cost was far higher than estimated.
Despite the duty free and other concessions many hoteliers said that they experienced severe cost overruns.
Guyana got a soft loan and a grant totaling US$26 million to construct the stadium but there was so much more to be done. Parking lots had to be constructed; information technology components had to be installed to facilitate wireless transmissions to various parts of the world; (we believe that this should have been included in the cost of the stadium) an electronic scoreboard had to be rented although we believe that this was not done; and there was the large video display screen that had to be acquired at a cost.
We had to host the teams, officials, media and sponsors although we believe that the International Cricket Council paid these expenses from the huge takings it acquired merely from the sale of television rights and from the various sponsors.
There is one report that in the end, hosting the event cost Guyana nearly twice as much as the original US$26 million.
The general view is that when all is said and done the ICC would come out winners for merely being the main promoter of the event. Its takings are estimated to be in the vicinity of US$500 million. The profits are going to be huge. The prize money will account for a mere one per cent of the takings and the various host venues will get a token to offset expenses.
However, despite its huge profits, the ICC has been pressuring countries like Guyana to pay for additional charges created by the ICC because in that organisation's view, there were some outstanding things that had to be completed.
However, Guyana 's problems go far beyond the ICC and whatever sums that international organisation expects to collect. They are centered on the continued use of the stadium. After the cricket matches, during the past two weeks, nothing more has been done. If left unattended the grass that created so many headaches when it failed to grow as expected after being planted would reach jungle proportions. The stands would survive but the interior of some of the buildings would begin to deteriorate almost immediately.
To offset any decline, the government must ensure a permanent staff at the stadium. But paying for a facility that offers no returns is most unproductive.
Surprisingly, when Guyana was constructing its stadium there was no plan for its continued use. One may argue that the focus was on Cricket World Cup and therefore the policymakers were blinkered. But the time has come when Guyana must set out to not only recover its expenditure but ensure that the enhanced facility would see a corresponding improvement in Guyana's ability to play cricket.
For example, among the crowd-pullers would be floodlight cricket and floodlight football. The National Stadium is ideally suited for the night games given the huge seating capacity and the offer of unrestricted viewing from any part of the ground.
What is more is that night games offer much needed entertainment in a country that is starved for life after dark. Barring the night clubs, there is nothing for people interested in wholesome entertainment.
However, Guyana is going to have to spend more money on the stadium. Floodlighting could cost a further US$1 million, but the returns would be much more. The money should be available from the billions of dollars the government has collected from the national lottery.
And with sports tourism becoming a new money spinner one could see Guyana, with a large floodlit facility, hosting tournaments involving the other Caribbean countries. These tournaments would bring people and would help keep the hotels occupied, which is something that all of Guyana wants to see.
The unfortunate thing is that we have a tendency to wait until something happens before we take action. We would like to see work being done to make the stadium a multipurpose facility. And the sooner the better; because with each passing day prices rise faster than Guyana can actually earn money.