Jagdeo GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):
GUYANA PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo says his country had benefited tremendously from hosting Cricket World Cup games even as he chastised other regional countries for trying to shift the blame for some negative elements of the tournament.
Jagdeo last week told reporters that more than 16,000 additional visitors passed through the country and 50,000 tickets were sold for the six Super Eight matches here despite the high ticket prices.
"We wish that the ticket prices for the event could have been maybe cheaper but when you host these international games, especially when it is done in several areas and it is organised by a common committee, the pricing policy often at the individual country level, you don't have control over pricing,"Jagdeo said.
While predicting that the country's coffers would benefit substantially from the number of visitor arrivals and sales from the mega event, the Guyanese leader also forecast that a number of other tangible and intangible benefits awaited Guyana from the global exposure of hosting the tournament.
One evident benefit was the unifying power of the game which forced an otherwise racially and politically divisive nation to unite, Jagdeo observed.
"I was very pleased because for them (Guyanese citizens) it did not matter - politics did not matter at that time, neither did race or religion. I saw this in their faces. Guyana was what mattered and us hosting the games and I think we need to build on this because it can bring our people closer together, which is a major national task.
"This was truly a national event and I wish that we treat it as such because sometimes we have a tendency to be harsher on ourselves than we are on other people and I hope that we don't fall into that trap," Jagdeo said.
He, however, said he was unhappy that some regional countries hid behind the proverbial fig leaf when challenged by their citizens to justify the cost of staging the event which did not attract the crowds many anticipated.
"I see some countries, when questioned about the expenses and whether those expenses were justified, rather than explaining to their people about why this sovereign decision was made - that they put in a bid to host World Cup cricket and they take the responsibility for that decision - they sought (instead) to shift the burden or the blame elsewhere and started blaming all the regional bodies (LOCs) or the ICC.
