There are two responses to stress - flight or fight.
For Mike Hooper, CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation, flight simply wasn’t an option, despite having to cope with almost unendurable stress for three years in the build-up to last year’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Hooper found himself caught in the vicious cross-fire of Indian politics and a gleefully negative international media as he attempted to coax and cajole the Games out of the shambles of a Local Organising Committee (LOC) that was only too anxious to use the New Zealander as a scapegoat for its own shortcomings.
Of course other major sports events have taken it to the wire. Remember Athens where the smell of fresh paint permeated the air in the days immediately before the 2004 Olympic Games opened for business? Or South Africa which crossed the line on the 2010 FIFA World Cup thanks to a magnificent final spurt which ultimately proved the doubters wrong?
Delhi managed to take the notion of just-in-time to a whole new level before delivering an event which ranks as the biggest-ever Commonwealth Games and provided the facilities and services which competitors required to perform at their best.
All of which is quite an achievement given that a couple of weeks before the opening ceremony a number of Chefs de Mission publicly questioned the wisdom of bringing their athletes into a village which was not simply unfinished but flooded and, in at least one instance, strewn with excrement.
It was always going to be a tough gig and Hooper, who for three years gave up the sanctuary of his office on the corner of London’s Piccadilly and Park Lane to live in the Indian capital, found himself at the epicentre of a storm of controversy which never quite managed to blow itself out.
One of the most usual causes of stress is having a pressing goal but having to rely on others to ensure that it is achieved.
That is precisely the situation in which Hooper found himself in India. The Commonwealth Games is a Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) property but, once a host has been announced, the responsibility for organisation falls squarely on the shoulder of the LOC.
“All that the CGF could do is express concern and offer advice to help the LOC,” says Hooper, who realised from the outset that this was likely to be a challenging project.
“There were a number of key issues identified up to three-and-a-half years before the Games.
“Security was key among them and I remember seeing a graphic in The Wall Street Journal which underscored the volatility of the region given troubles in Sri Lanka, Kashmir and Pakistan. In terms of security these Games were portrayed as being held in almost a war zone.
“We took advice from experts including [London’s territorial force] the Metropolitan Police, but it was ultimately the duty of the government of India to deliver security for these Games and at the end of the day they delivered.
“Some reports suggested that the security was, if anything, too oppressive but you simply can’t have it both ways. In fact, most of the restrictions placed on the movements of athletes during the Games were imposed by their own federations rather than the Games’ own security regime.
“Ultimately India did deliver on security and the Games were incident-free.”
But security was far from the only issue. The problems were summed up publicly by CGF president Mike Fennell in a speech given in October 2009, a year before the Games.
In typically diplomatic language he issued a stern rebuke to the LOC - dressed up as a rallying call for Delhi - to ensure that it delivered a Games that reflected well on the city and enabled it to benefit from a valuable sporting legacy.
“I made it well-known before arriving in Delhi this week that the CGF believes Delhi faces enormous challenges in being ready to host the Games,” said Fennell. “There are particular concerns across all operational areas as well as with the procurement process.
“The Organising Committee has an obligation to produce a Games that the people of this proud nation deserve. With a year to go, I now say that time is your enemy, but together we can defeat it.”
In the same speech he also articulated one of the steps which was only then being taken to ensure the Games went ahead: the appointment of experts with major event experience to ensure that key functional areas were in safe and knowledgeable hands.
Listen to any sports event management expert and they will tell you the same thing. Experience is essential and re-inventing the wheel is a dangerous waste of time and money which puts entire events at risk.
That the Delhi LOC had to be publicly reminded of this 52 weeks from the opening ceremony is evidence of the shambolic state of affairs which Hooper faced on a day-to-day basis.
For the full interview see the latest edition of SportBusiness International published February 1.
