How relevant are the commonwealth games?

The 19th commonwealth games have been so far surrounded by controversies.
A lot of ace athletes like the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt pulled out of the commonwealth games giving reasons like security, sudden injury and also reasons like to prepare for other important events. The games seem to have turned into a mere platform for amateur or struggling athletes from around the world. The commonwealth games is an international event in which athletes from commonwealth of nations take part and compete for sports that are mainly played in these countries. Most of these countries were once colonies of the British Empire. It is an event where all the countries which were once under the British rule get together. An important question that arises is, “why are we still celebrating the hideous past of being a British colony when there are other major and important game events already in existence?” Every year most of the athletes pull out of the commonwealth games. Countries hosting these games end up spending billions on its organisation. Most of these countries are developing or underdeveloped where poverty is widespread. There are problems which need emergency attention.


After a series of setbacks that plagued the games this year, empty stadiums is another problem for the organisers. Thousands of tickets to the games still remain unsold. The organisers are giving away free tickets to fill the stadiums. Amid such problems the relevance of the games has become questionable. But, the game goes on.