The Guardian: Commonwealth Games in India plagued by chaos and controversy (& possible cancellation)

[Turborama]

Monsoon rains, mosquitos and a collapsed bridge – 23 injured in accident as Delhi Games lurch towards new crisis


Indian workers stand at the scene of bridge collapse near
Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi, India.
Photograph: Anupam Nath/AP

Jason Burke in Delhi
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday September 21 2010 19.57 BST

The white plastic canopy stretched over the reconditioned terraces glowed purple and red. Fresh paint gleamed in the late monsoon rain. The air-conditioning and mobile toilets were "first class", said workers. But the crowd outside the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in central Delhi were not there to admire the venue that will host the opening ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in less than two weeks time. They were there to gawp at twisted wreckage - the evidence of the latest disaster to hit the troubled event.

This was billed as the moment when India would stride proudly out onto the world stage. But today saw the 19th Commonwealth Games sinking only further into chaos and recrimination.

It had already been a bad day for the event, even before 23 labourers were injured when a crucial bridge linking the athletes' car park to the main stadium collapsed in the early afternoon. Officials arriving ahead of overseas teams had found rooms in the £150m Commonwealth Games village - built on a greenfield site on the outskirts of this city of 17 million – to be "unsafe and unfit for human habitation". This despite the fact that the village is due to open on Thursday. Some rooms had been flooded out by monsoon rains. In others showers, air conditioning and electrical sockets were not working, while toilets were described as "filthy". With local press reporting that only 18 of the 34 accommodation blocks were complete, team leaders from England, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, Australia and Canada all expressed shock and concern.

Craig Hunter, England's chef de mission, revealed he was calling for safety assurances from the organisers. "It's hard to cancel an event of this magnitude but we are close to the wire, and teams may start to take things into their own hands," he told the Press Association. "Athletes will start getting on planes soon and decisions will have to be made. We need new levels of reassurance." Some even threw doubt on whether the games could go ahead. New Zealand's chef de mission, Dave Currie, said: "The way things are looking, it's not up to scratch. The reality is that if the village is not ready and athletes can't come, the implications are that it's not going to happen." The Commonwealth Games Federation president, Michael Fennell, described the whole two-week event as "seriously compromised".

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/sep/21/commonwealth-games-collapse-bridge-delhi

More related articles in this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9172448

[Turborama]

1. The concerns & controversies Wikipdedia page / Canada & New Zealand look more likely to pull out

Concerns and controversies over the 2010 Commonwealth Games
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerns_and_controversies_over_the_2010_Commonwealth_Games

Related article: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20100823gb.html">Shameful road to the Commonwealth Games

New Zealand mulls pull out of Commonwealth Games
Times of India, Sep 22, 2010, 08.59am IST

NEW DELHI: Day after New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie expressed his disappointment over Commonwealth Games village, the country's Prime Minister John Key said there is no point in sending athletes to Delhi for the Commonwealth Games.

The New Zealand Olympic Committee said they will take the final decision on sending the team on Friday.

Earlier on Tuesday, New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie, who is in New Delhi ahead of his team's arrival, said large sections of the village were still not ready with the clock ticking to its official opening on Thursday.

"The way things are looking, it's not up to scratch," he told New Zealand commercial radio.

Full article: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/commonwealth-games/top-stories/New-Article/articleshow/6604783.cms

Angry Canada hints at pulling out of Games

Wed Sep 22 2010 11:44:58 GMT+0800 (Malay Peninsula Standard Time) by IANS

By Gurmukh Singh

Toronto, Sep 22 (IANS) Canada Tuesday hinted that it is ready to pull out of the Commonwealth Games if India quickly fails to fix the problems - lack of preparedness at venues and fears about security.

=snip=

In a teleconference Tuesday with Canada’s advance team of sport and security officials in Delhi, Commonwealth Games Canada president Andrew Pipe said, “This would have been an opportunity for India to shine. Instead, I think, it risks considerable international embarrassment unless some of these deficiencies can be addressed.

“It is not as if the Indian government has been unaware of these problems - and that is, I think, the source of so much frustration on the part of many of us.”

In an angry tone, he said, “Personally, I am deeply disappointed with the reactions of the Indian government and the organizing committee. They reflect, it seems to me, a certain level of indifference that borders at times on the intransigent - and they have been glacial in responding to the concerns that have been raised by colleagues and I for weeks and, indeed, months leading up to these Games. We’re addressing an extremely challenging situation and monitoring developments very closely.”

Full article: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/sports/angry-canada-hints-at-pulling-out-of-games_100432440.html