Mega Sporting Events in Developing Nations: Necessity or Bureaucratic Burden?

This paper presents a pioneering investigation into why street-level bureaucrats in Egypt perceive the hosting of mega sporting events as necessary or unnecessary. Based on interviews with 36 street-level bureaucrats, the findings reveal that only a small number of participants view hosting such events as necessary, while the vast majority consider them unnecessary. These perceptions are shaped by both job-related barriers, which include exclusion from decision-making, citizen criticism, and reliance on foreign experts, and socio-cultural barriers, which involve lack of public support, absence of event legacy, and limited impact on tourism.