DEVELOPMENT, POLITICS AND THE FEASABILITY OF HOSTING THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN AFRICA

Abstract

The Olympic Games is a mega-sport event of unparalleled prestige and status on a global scale. The host city is not only rewarded with prestige but, since the commercialisation of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games also the substantial financial benefits which accrues from staging the Games. The Olympic Games in the modern era has become highly commercialised and generates substantial sums of money. Apart from Africa, all the continents of the world have already had the opportunity to host the Olympic Games. However, the host cities were without exception situated in developed countries that could absorb the substantial costs that staging the Olympic Games require. This article investigates the feasibility and desirability of hosting the Games in an African city from a developmental perspective and attempts to answer the question is the staging justifiable in the light of the continent’s developmental problems.