Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sample 1
Sample 2
Many countries have made attempts to bid to host major sporting events such as the
Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and etc. Malaysia has also involved in attempting to bid to
host such events, but the question is, Should Malaysia Host such Sporting Mega Event?. A
sporting mega event could be defined based on two main respects: internal characteristics
such as duration and scale, and external characteristics such as its media coverage and tourism
attractiveness and its impacts on the host country (Malfas et al., 2004). It is undeniable that
these mega events would definitely bring impacts which range from political, social,
economical, physical and cultural and these impacts can be negative as well as positive. The
most common impacts are socio-economic impacts, socio-cultural impacts, physical impacts
and political impacts (Malfas et al., 2004; Barclay, 2009).
In terms of positive impacts, hosting mega sporting events could create more job
opportunities (Malfas et al., 2004; Barclay, 2009), which could decrease the unemployment
rate of a host country. However, Malfas et al. (2004) claim that the jobs are often on part-time
basis and pay very low. In terms of socio-cultural benefits, Malfas et al. (2004) agree that
hosting major sporting events could increase the interest and participation of residents in sport
activities as well as increase the local pride and community spirit. In many cases, hosting a
mega sporting event have also transformed the physical impacts or image of the host cities
(Malfas, et al. (2004). New facilities, new roads and development of public transportation
may improve the physical appearance of host cities (Malfas et al., 2004; Barclay, 2009). Last
but not least, hosting a mega sporting event may improve the practices of public
administrations which could lead to stronger political practices.
Barclay (2007) mentions several negative impacts as a result of hosting a mega
sporting event. First, residents of a host city may change their spending patterns to avoid
inflated prices due to an increased number of visitors. Daily expenditures may also increase
sharply as a result of increase demands from visitors. Local residents also may change their
daily activities due to congestions, resulting from the suddent increase of road users.
In short, both papers have discussed many positive and negative impacts that a
country may experience by hosting mega sporting events. Since the positive impacts seem to
outweigh the negative impacts, perhaps it is wise for Malaysia to bid to host one mega
sporting event.