VietNamNet Bridge – Nguyen Hong Minh, former head of the Elite Sport Department of the National Sports Administration, shared in an interview about the financial problems of hosting the coming 18th Asian Games.

Nguyen Hong Minh

What makes you stand against hosting the 18th Asian Games?

Nobody can be sure of the economy over the next seven years. If it keeps growing then it would be great, but if it is stagnant, hosting the biggest sport event in Asia will be a great burden. But we already made commitment to the Olympic Council of Asia.

What are your specific worries concerning the preparations, and have you done research on the financial problems of other countries that held Asian Games?

The first problem is capital. I think our estimated number of USD150 million is only enough to build the bare necessities, constructions and upgrades in training venues.

Countries that have hosted Asian Games in the past have had to to pay five to ten times more than what they estimated. I think we need at least USD400 million.

Our next problem is in dealing in a realistic way with economic predictions. The government has to deal with problems of corruption, inflation and the ongoing economic recovery. They would also have to pay huge amounts of money on the Asian Games. The Olympic 2004 in Greece was one of the causes for that country's financial crisis.

China's estimated investment for the Olympics of 2008 was USD22 billion, but the actual number is double.

We should consider all the difficulties. Sports officials from Vietnam must calculate everything carefully too.

Do you think we have enough time to prepare?

The Asian Games is a large event, and five years is a short time. We took 10 years to prepare for SEAGames. As far as I can see, everything is still a mess.

Aside from infrastructure, the quality of our athletes and managers also play an important role. What's your opinion on this matter?

Vietnamese sports teams must ask the government for a special training programmes. At this point our athletes may not be able to compete well, and we also have a problem with our managers. In addition to all that, our managing agencies might lack the experience of holding such a large event.

Do you think that the goal of winning 10-15 gold medals is realistic?

It's difficult to speculate on that question, but our achievements in past competitions were wanting. We came home with nothing from the last Olympics and only one gold medal at the last Asian Games.

Are you worried about possible problems from the Asian Games?

Yes. We have only built the most necessary constructions, and we have to plan what these will be used for afterwards. What will happen to these stadiums after the event? I wonder if people will even be interested.

Source: DTriNews