In an article in The Wall Street Journal, Greek-American James Stavridis, a retired United States Navy Admiral and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, supports the idea that Athens should permanently host the Olympic Games.
Stavridis points out that while the Games are meant to promote the values of friendship, respect, and sportsmanship, they have often been used as a tool for propaganda or an attempt by countries to expand their political influence and send messages to friends and rivals alike. Moreover, allegations of corruption in the process of selecting host cities “also do not help,” he comments.
As he points out in the WSJ article, one solution would be to build permanent Olympic venues – for both the summer and the winter games. This would also resolve the issue of vast costs borne each time by the city hosting the Games. All participating countries would share the costs in such a case according to their GDP. The USA and Europe would provide 15% of the funding each, while China would contribute the same percentage. India’s contribution would be 7%, Japan’s 4%, and Russia’s 3%. The smallest nations would receive a very small bill.
For the Winter Games, he proposes St Moritz in Switzerland, which has hosted the Games in 1928 and 1948. “The Swiss are organized and efficient. Switzerland is known for its political neutrality, reliability, and they’re a reasonable international contender,” he explains.
“The obvious choice for the summer games would be Greece,” he continues. “Like the Swiss, the Greeks have hosted the Games twice in modern history, in 1896 and 2004. In addition, Greece is a member of NATO and a close friend of the US. The Greeks also have a relatively good relationship with Russia and China. Turkey may have objections, but the two countries participate in the Games without any problem.”
“Above all, the choice of a permanent venue would limit the opportunities for nationalism and propaganda that distract from the true objective of the Games.”
This article was previously published in Greek at moneyreview.gr.
