Legendary Olympian Edwin Moses wants India’s sporting establishment to be clear in their minds about the purpose for wanting to host a Commonwealth Games or Olympics — is it about having a mega event or develop sports in the country. India have submitted its Expression of Interest (EOI) to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games and also are intending to bid for the 2036 edition of Olympics. India is among the seven bidders to host the 2031 AFC Asian Cup in men’s football. “It depends on what the vision is for having a Commonwealth Games. Is it just to have an event in India, or is it to really develop sports? That’s gonna be the big question,” Moses, a Laureus World Sports Academy member told PTI when asked if hosting mega events like the Commonwealth Games could help find better athletes. “You can put on the Commonwealth Games or any other event and have all the fanfare and the government involved, and people who have nothing to do with sports but sit on the front row. That’s what you want to avoid. That’s generally what happens,” Moses was blunt about how he perceived India’s interest in these events. Moses is at his wits end to understand why a country of billion can’t consistently produce world class athletes. “So it’s gonna depend on the people who have been athletes, who are able to make things happen. That’s for the people in India to determine. I don’t keep up with the politics of sports over there or what’s gone wrong-and why isn’t a country with a billion people better than others in sports, which doesn’t even make sense.” Moses, who won 107 consecutive finals and set the world record in the 400m hurdles four times between 1977 and 1987, also expressed concern over India’s inability to produce world-class athletes despite its massive population. “They have to spend the money on coaches and infrastructure. There’s a lot of other countries in the world-much smaller, with much less financial capabilities than India-that produce good athletes,” the 69-year-old said. “So the infrastructure is just not there to support athletes and take Olympic sports seriously. They have certain areas in which they’re really good, but in general, it’s probably just the infrastructure, coaches, stadiums, and dedication to help athletes become better athletes. “The question is, is it valuable to the country-other than cricket, which is the big sport there, right? How much do they value other sports that people may not be familiar with?” his counter-questions were blunt.