OPINION: The Commonwealth Games should be scratched
· Citizen
I appreciate multi-sport Games. Other than the Fifa World Cup, the Summer Olympics attracts more interest than any other sporting event on the planet.
When I started working as a journalist, the No 1 goal on my bucket list was to attend the Olympic Games.
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In 2016 I got the opportunity to tick that box when this newspaper sent me to Rio to cover the showpiece in Brazil. A massive celebration of global sport, it was the most memorable event I’ve covered in my career.
But I just don’t understand why we need the Commonwealth Games. It’s such a bizarre thing.
Strange thing to celebrate
Commonwealth countries are essentially celebrating the fact that we were all colonised by Great Britain. We tried so hard to gain our independence, and now we get together every four years to have a sporting celebration with other countries who also didn’t want to be ruled by Britain.
Personally, it’s a strange thing for me to wrap my head around. I wouldn’t be living in South Africa if this nation was colonised, but I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
So in a weird way I’m glad this country was taken over by Britain because that’s why I was born here, but I’m equally upset by the fact that England had control of our country in the first place.
Regardless, the reality is that South Africa is no longer a British colony. We didn’t want it and we certainly shouldn’t be celebrating it.
And from a purely sporting perspective, what’s the point of the Commonwealth Games?
We don’t need another stepping stone
Yes, you can argue that it’s a stepping stone to the Olympic Games and gives athletes in various sports an opportunity to gain experience.
But we already have enough of these events. We have global junior championships, various continental Games, African Championships and the World University Games. All these events offer the same value.
The Commonwealth Games seems to me like a waste of resources that could be better spent elsewhere, and for the life of me I can’t understand how it’s still a thing.
The UK still celebrates its monarchy, but the archaic views they won’t let go don’t need to seep into the rest of the countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, an alliance that should probably no longer exist.
The 2026 edition of the Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow in July, but I’m guessing there won’t be much interest in it, and rightly so.
We didn’t want colonisation and we don’t need the Commonwealth Games. We need to let it go.