When the lights go out

It's as if we were building castles in the sand. Massive sports facilities - permanent rather than temporary - many of them poorly located, were left to deteriorate unused after the Athens Olympics. We retained unnecessary stadiums, some serving moribund federations with nominal clubs, while successive governments failed to capitalize on the 2004 vision in the years that followed. This mismanagement wasn't merely a missed opportunity; it was a national failure.

The problem became evident early on, beginning with the submission of the Olympic bid dossier. According to the initial master plan, 75% of the sports facilities and 92% of the training sites were already there. However, once Greece received the International Olympic Committee's approval, everything changed. A new design was adopted, other locations were sought, and new areas were chosen for permanent facilities. Time...