HEALTH AND safety fears have prompted some Commonwealth Games athletes to withdraw from the two-week event that opens in the Indian capital on October 3rd.
Unfinished and leaking stadiums, uninhabitable living quarters for more than 7,000 participants, collapsing pedestrian bridges, questionable security and cases of dengue fever and malaria have plagued the final preparations.
Australia’s world discus champion Dani Samuels and English world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu have both pulled out of the games, citing health and safety concerns, and Australia’s sports minister Mark Arbib said more athletes from his country might follow.
“I can’t afford to risk my safety in the slightest. Sorry people, but I have children to think about. My safety is more important to them than a medal,” Idowu said in a Twitter message.
Two other members of the England team – Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu and 1500m runner Lisa Dobriskey – have pulled out with injuries.
New Zealand prime minister John Key said he would support any athlete who decided not to participate in the games due to fears about inadequate security.
“They have to make their own decision on whether they feel comfortable or not with the risks involved,” Mr Key said yesterday after being briefed over preparations for the games, which were aimed at showcasing an emerging and confident India.
None of the national teams had yet withdrawn, but Scotland yesterday said it would delay its arrival in Delhi where the athletes’ village – strewn with debris, naked wiring and soiled with human excrement – was scheduled to open formally today.
On Tuesday, a footbridge under construction near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main games venue, collapsed, injuring 27 workers, five of them seriously.
Yesterday, a section of ceiling at the weightlifting venue fell in, but Indian officials said it was a minor problem and “not something to be worried about”.
The state of the athletes’ village has also come under fire, with complaints of flooding, rooms soiled with excrement and stray dogs sleeping on some beds.
Compounding the chaos were security fears after two Taiwanese cameramen were shot at and injured in Delhi’s walled city area at the weekend. An Islamic militant group claimed responsibility. Other Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda have also threatened to strike during the games.
A “sting” operation by an Australian television reporter has compounded security fears. The journalist carried a suitcase packed with an explosives detonation kit into a major games venue.
After showing the black-market explosives on sale near Delhi, the reporter wheeled in his “loaded” valise past a metal detector and a police checkpoint. The kit was capable of triggering 200 explosives if linked to a detonator.
Commonwealth Games federation chief executive Mike Hooper said of the last-minute preparations: “I’ve never come across this before. It’s very frustrating to see the delays and the fact that we’ve had to come right down to the wire.”
The few participating contingents that have already arrived have hired industrial cleaners to make their living quarters habitable, prompting television channels and newspapers to dub the games as “India’s Shame”.
Organising committee secretary general Lalit Bhanot earned further nationwide opprobrium by sneeringly declaring on Tuesday that westerners had different standards of hygiene compared to Indians, inferring that locals preferred living in squalid and unclean environments.
But he and his colleagues reiterated that the games would be the best ever, comparing them to the near flawless 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The chaos has prompted Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell to bring forward his arrival in Delhi to today.
He has requested a meeting with prime minister Manmohan Singh over the shambolic preparations.
The cost of hosting the games has risen at least 17.5 times from an original estimate of $2 billion (€1.5 billion), making them the most expensive ever.
Government anti-corruption bodies cited large-scale financial mismanagement and misappropriation by organising committee officials, some of whom were forced to resign.
Northern Ireland officials to inspect
TEAM NORTHERN Ireland has sent two officials to Delhi to inspect accommodation for athletes at the Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Stewart Tosh and Terry Crothers arrived in India yesterday and will report back on the city's preparations for Team NI, which is due to depart on schedule on Monday.
"Both are very experienced, having attended a number of games in a management capacity, and were present at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune in 2008; therefore [they] are aware of the set-up and indeed the Indian culture," the statement said.