Cancellation could be disastrous for (Commonwealth) Games' future - New Zealand's Prime Minister

[Turborama]

Source: Reuters

44 mins ago -

A cancellation of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi could be disastrous for the future of the event and for India's world standing, according to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

The October 3-14 multi-sport event is under intense scrutiny from competing nations with security and health concerns now compounded by reports of a lack of preparedness of athlete accommodation and infrastructure. New Zealand's chef de mission Dave Currie was dismayed at the standard of accommodation and New Zealand Olympic Committee officials have flown to India to conduct urgent last minute checks of facilities and security.

"I think if the Commonwealth Games didn't go ahead, that could have significant implications for the future of the Commonwealth Games, and that's not something we'd like to see," Key told reporters at New Zealand's Parliament. "It also wouldn't be good for India. It's obviously a fast-emerging nation that New Zealand enjoys good relations with and ... it has always been our position that we hope the games can go ahead and that New Zealand athletes would be safe and sound as they carried out their sporting events."

Key said the most important factor as far as his government was concerned was the safety of New Zealand's athletes.

Read more: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100922/tpl-uk-games-zealand-key-81f3b62.html

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Much more on this in Editorials: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x561135

[Turborama]

1. Commonwealth Games 'on a knife-edge', says England chairman / Weightlifting arena ceiling caves in

Staff and agencies
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday September 222010 10.47 BST

Delhi's hosting of the Commonwealth Games was plunged into further doubt today after a ceiling collapsed in the weighlifting arena and the chairman of England's athletics team said the entire squad's participation was "on a knife-edge".

Sir Andrew Foster, the chairman of Commonwealth Games England said the competition faces a "critical 24 to 48 hours" following ongoing problems with the athletes' village. Scotland team officials have delayed their departure to Delhi, having yesterday described their accommodation as "unsafe and unfit for human habitation".

Today, organisers faced further embarrassment over http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/sep/22/explosives-commonwealth-games-tv-sting">claims of a security breach, and the collapse of a section of false ceiling near the weightlifting stage at the main Jawarharlal Stadium. The ceiling collapse followed the http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/sep/21/commonwealth-games-collapse-bridge-delhi">collapse of a footbridge linking the stadium to a car park yesterday, injuring 26 workers.

Foster told the BBC: "I think the next 24 to 48 hours is the critical time which will tell us whether the village – which is where the main problem is now – has enough accommodation for everybody. I think we're at an absolutely vital time whether the major teams go."

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/sep/22/commonwealth-games-knife-edge-england

The Guardian's live blog with regular updates: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/sep/22/commonwealth-games-2010-crisis-live-coverage

[Blue_Tires]

3. looked at the most recent photos and it's a disgrace

even the stuff that is ready looks shoddy and slapped together...

after all the bill padding, theft and substandard construction, I would NOT want to even be anywhere near one of those buildings...

This could be a tragedy in the making...

[Blue_Tires]

2. I'm still shocked to see this from India

With all the international attention and lead time, you would have thought the organizers would have been perfecting every little detail from the start....

Especially since it was hinted that India was looking into a future Olympic bid..

[Turborama]

5. 97% of The Times Of India's readers feel the same

97% say Games bosses have tarred India's image: Poll

TNN, Sep 23, 2010, 01.16am IST

Those responsible for the Commonwealth Games mess often blame the media for "overhyping" the situation, and argue that it does not truly reflect public sentiment. So we decided to ask our readers themselves what they thought. We did a quick online poll on Wednesday afternoon. And frankly, the sheer volume of the responses and the depth of the public outrage against the miscarriage of responsibility by the Organizing Committee and government officials surpassed our assessment.

Within eight hours of the questionnaire being put on the TOI website, over 17,500 people had voted - a huge response, even by the numbers online polls attract. (Commissioned surveys typically poll a few hundred.) And we hadn't made a prior announcement of the poll in the newspaper or on the website. An overwhelming 97% of respondents believed that the Union and Delhi governments and the OC had tarnished the image of the country.

Our poll also posed a basic question: Did it make sense for India to have bid for the Games? No, said 59% of respondents. This, in fact, was the mildest expression of anger by the readers.

Even if you disregard OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi's boast that the Games would be the best ever and would have better infrastructure than the Beijing Olympics, you still hear many in government and the OC claiming that "minor" incidents like a bridge collapse or ceiling collapse won't affect the games. But the public certainly does not think so. As many as 73% of the respondents felt that the situation was so grave it could no longer be salvaged.


More: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/commonwealth-games/top-stories/97-say-Games-bosses-have-tarred-Indias-image-Poll/articleshow/6609804.cms

[Crowman1979]

4. That's what you get with cheap materials, cheap labor and most importantly NO REGULATION!!!

It's the free market at work! :sarcasm:

God knows how many workers die in India every year from accidents.

[ChromeFoundry]

7. Nail, Head, Hit n/t

[Turborama]

6. Commonwealth Games given 48 hours to save itself

Team officials warn they will pull athletes out if concerns about the standard of facilities are not immediately addressed

Jason Burke in Delhi and Owen Gibson
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday September 22 2010 19.23 BST

Commonwealth Games organisers in Delhi were tonight given 48 hours to save the crisis-hit event after team officials warned they would pull their athletes out if serious ongoing concerns about the standard of facilities were not immediately addressed.

The sense of impending crisis was exacerbated when a section of the ceiling in the weightlifting arena fell down amid growing fears over rising flood waters near the athlete's village, which had already been condemned by team officials as "filthy" and "unfit for human occupation".

With the Games at risk of descending into farce, thousands of athletes from the major competing nations remained in the dark about whether or not they would be boarding a plane to compete.

The Scottish team delayed the departure of the first batch of their 192 athletes, comprising 41 boxers, rugby players, wrestlers and support staff. The Wales team set a deadline of tonight to receive reassurances from organisers that the athlete's village and venues would be "fit for purpose" and plan to discuss the issue further tomorrow.

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/sep/22/commonwealth-games-crisis-48-hours

[Codeine]

8. The state of the athlete's village was shocking.

Nightmarish filth everywhere.

[Bragi]

9. No games! How unimaginably horrible that would be

Let me count the ways in which it would be a terrible catastrophe if the Commonwealth games were no more:

1. Poor countries wouldn't make shockingly-expensive bids for the Games, forcing them to think of other ways to spend the little money they have.

2. ah...

C'mon, work with me on this.