Delhi’s Commonwealth Games were supposed to bring India to the world’s attention in a similar manner to Beijing’s Olympics in 2008. This has undoubtedly been acheived but not in the manner the organisers would have hoped for.
The whole event is in danger of becoming a farce and is already a PR disaster. Teams and athletes threatening to pull out, buildings rumoured to be on the verge of collapse, athletes’ villages “unfit for human habitation” according to the optimists in Team Scotland.
Amidst this PR carnage there are some voices of disent – Great Britain legend Steve Backley giving his best Four Yorkshiremen impression earlier today:
“I also remember the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 when there were three of us in a room which barely had space for three single beds. There were no wardrobes and no air conditioning – the sort of conditions that athletes nowadays would be up in arms about.”
However, what the whole event has missed since the potential PR disaster first began to loom on the horizon was a clear communications strategy. Not until the 11th hour, with the intervention of chief minister Sheila Dikshit, has there been a “face” to clarify, cajole and explain the difficult situation.
Backley’s argument “when a tile falling off a ceiling makes the 10 o’clock news, I think ‘oh c’mon guys’. There is a lot of hysteria. It’s like Carry on up the Khyber” will have some backers but the lack of structure to the PR effort means the free press, unfettered by the restrictions likely imposed during the Beijing Games can only whip themselves up into further frenzy, unchecked by the organisers.
The clean up operation is now on but still media sources will search out images of children laying bricks, of squalid living conditions and health and safety risks (oh joy) until somebody takes control and works with the media to present the story in the best possible light. This isn’t about masking the problems, that can’t and shouldn’t be done. It is about explaining the situation, holding hands up and getting on with it as best as they can.
If they achieve that and build relationships with the press going forward from today they are more likely to receive a more sympathetic hearing if and when they pull this off.
The Press For Attention Prescription
The crisis communications plan should have been in place when they won the bid, not rushed out with 8 days to go. Hopefully the Games will eventually be a triumph of effort and will against the odds, exactly what sport should be. However, it is the damage to a country’s reputation in comparison to its economic rival in the BRIC countries that may linger longest in the memory.
For more on handling a PR crisis visit my How To section