Through foreign eyes

The rest of the world doesn’t seem to think too well of Britain and its Big Games.

While British commentators are gloating over the “wonderful” London Olympics, the rest of the world doesn’t appear to share their rose-tinted view of themselves judging from the criticism in the foreign media.

The CNN has circulated an “idiot’s guide” for visiting Americans describing London’s Mayor Boris Johnson as “truly eccentric” and Londoners as a bunch of moaners. Its advice: “When talking about the Olympics, be sure to hit all the key moaning points of transport, security and massive budget overspends.” Mocking Londoners’ drinking habit, it says that going for a drink means just that, and “at no time will the issue of dinner raise its ugly head.”

According to

The Sunday Times , which carried samples of foreign dispatches, Russians see Britons “as a nation so reluctant to host the event that four million of us have escaped overseas” during the Games.

United Arab Emirates’

Al Ittihad also complained of British apathy noting that “in the Arab world, we put up more adverts for Ramadan than London has put up about the Olympics.”

Germany’s Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung had a go at Britons’ poor performance in sports and chuckled at “the failure of generations of their compatriots in sports such as tennis or football.”

Rankled by memories of British criticism of the Delhi Commonwealth Games, Indians have retaliated by rubbishing facilities at the Olympics Village. Anyone in search of a whiff of Olympic spirit had better look elsewhere.