Five reasons why losing the 2022 Commonwealth Games is a tad embarrassing for SA

The experts have been lining up to explain why they think that South Africa could take years to recover after losing the rights to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games on Monday.

Some said it was a sad day for SA and this setback could negatively impact on our attempts to host other sporting events in future.

Five reasons why losing the Commonwealth Games is a tad embarrassing for SA

1) It is a blow to the image of the country

Over the years‚ South Africa has built a reputation as a destination for international sporting events with the highlights being the Rugby World Cup in 1995‚ Cricket World Cup in 2003 and the Fifa World Cup in 2010.

Our ability to deliver will suddenly come under scrutiny and Monday's events will have cast doubts on SA's reliability when bidding to host major events in the future.

• 'We can't be duped': Unrepentant Mbalula comes out firing over Commonwealth Games loss"We can't be duped‚ we can't be manipulated‚ we can't be threatened." 

2) A blow for South Africa’s chances of hosting the 2023 Rugby World Cup

A World Rugby delegation arrived in the country on Monday on a two-day meetings with stakeholders involved with South Africa’s Rugby World Cup 2023 bid and this situation will leave them with eyebrows.

3) It was going to boost the local economy

Initially‚ the South African government said it expected R20 billion in output to the economy which translated to R11 billion in gross domestic product growth by hosting the games.

4) Money wasted during the bidding process

About R118-million was wasted during the bidding process and this amount could have been used by the Ethekwini municipality to take care of critical service delivery projects in the area.

No amount of spin is going to convince angry South Africans who have always believed that hosting these Games was a futile exercise to begin with.

COMMENTARY: The cost of Durban losing the Commonwealth GamesWhen one counts the cost of losing the 2022 Commonwealth Games‚ you can start with Ricardo and Miranda Malajika. 

5) It may take a long time before an African country host this event

Just like the 2010 Fifa World Cup‚ this bid was widely viewed as an ‘African bid’ and it may take many years before this continent‚ which has produced an array of top international athletes‚ gets another opportunity to host an event like this.

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport