By Kim Tae-jong, Kwon Ji-youn
The just-ended Incheon Asian Games offers a lesson for organizers of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics: prepare well or face the consequences.
First of all, Incheon failed to secure funding from the central government.
As a result, the Asiad organizers had to make preparations on the relatively low budget of 2.3 trillion won or about $2 billion, forcing them to plug the biggest sporting event it has ever hosted as "cost-efficient" games.
But the real problem was not the size of budget but poor planning and inadequate preparations.
About 80 percent of the budget was used to build new stadiums and infrastructure, leaving little to go around for other important affairs.
For instance, shipping containers were used as makeshift offices to provide extra working space for media and athletes outside stadiums, while volunteers had to use towels to dry the wet tracks at the main stadium. They couldn't afford to purchase Aquasoaker rolling machines, which are commonly used at international events.
Then, a food scare frightened athletes and officials when it was found out that traces of food-poisoning salmonella bacteria were in athletes' lunch boxes.
In hindsight, if they had spent more on the opening ceremony, which was criticized for its reliance on some "hallyu" or Korean wave stars, the Incheon Asiad would have got off to a much pleasant start.
The organizing committee failed to properly address the issue of low ticket sales.
Celebrity-status sports stars drew crowds but stadiums that featured unpopular, or relatively unknown, sports were nearly empty.
Their lukewarm promotion of the event also failed to offer people a chance to see interesting matches and competition.
Even major broadcaster did not air some of high-profiled events live, taking people's attention away from the home event.
But most importantly, many problems at the Asiad can be attributed to a lack of communication and cooperation between Incheon city and the organizing committee.
For example, opening and closing ceremony director Jang Jin said that it hadn't been his decision to designate hallyu megastar Lee Young-ae as the final torch bearer, which drew criticism as many found it inappropriate for an actress to fill a role usually given to sports heroes at such international competitions.
The committee later confessed that it had cast Lee.
The organizers should know that their poor handling and management could ruin athletes' years of effort.
The just-ended Incheon Asian Games offers a lesson for organizers of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics: prepare well or face the consequences.
First of all, Incheon failed to secure funding from the central government.
As a result, the Asiad organizers had to make preparations on the relatively low budget of 2.3 trillion won or about $2 billion, forcing them to plug the biggest sporting event it has ever hosted as "cost-efficient" games.
But the real problem was not the size of budget but poor planning and inadequate preparations.
About 80 percent of the budget was used to build new stadiums and infrastructure, leaving little to go around for other important affairs.
For instance, shipping containers were used as makeshift offices to provide extra working space for media and athletes outside stadiums, while volunteers had to use towels to dry the wet tracks at the main stadium. They couldn't afford to purchase Aquasoaker rolling machines, which are commonly used at international events.
Then, a food scare frightened athletes and officials when it was found out that traces of food-poisoning salmonella bacteria were in athletes' lunch boxes.
In hindsight, if they had spent more on the opening ceremony, which was criticized for its reliance on some "hallyu" or Korean wave stars, the Incheon Asiad would have got off to a much pleasant start.
The organizing committee failed to properly address the issue of low ticket sales.
Celebrity-status sports stars drew crowds but stadiums that featured unpopular, or relatively unknown, sports were nearly empty.
Their lukewarm promotion of the event also failed to offer people a chance to see interesting matches and competition.
Even major broadcaster did not air some of high-profiled events live, taking people's attention away from the home event.
But most importantly, many problems at the Asiad can be attributed to a lack of communication and cooperation between Incheon city and the organizing committee.
For example, opening and closing ceremony director Jang Jin said that it hadn't been his decision to designate hallyu megastar Lee Young-ae as the final torch bearer, which drew criticism as many found it inappropriate for an actress to fill a role usually given to sports heroes at such international competitions.
The committee later confessed that it had cast Lee.
The organizers should know that their poor handling and management could ruin athletes' years of effort.
