Rebajlo
Mentor
Concerns mount over Delhi games as athletes pull out
Further doubts have been cast over next month's Delhi Commonwealth Games after two athletes withdrew and others postponed travelling to the event.
Some of the Scottish team have delayed their departure to Delhi while an English and an Australian athlete have both pulled out over security concerns.
The moves come amid heavy criticism of the state of facilities at the Games from officials and the Indian media.
Indian authorities say the site will be ready in time for the opening.
Michael Fennell, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, is travelling to Delhi for a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who took charge of the city's preparations a month ago.
On Tuesday, Mr Fennell said advance teams who went to inspect the facilities had been shocked by what they had seen at the athletes' village, where toilets were filthy and flats unfinished.
Also on Tuesday, a footbridge under construction near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main Games venue, collapsed, injuring 27 workers, five seriously.
On Wednesday, 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".'World class'
It was the latest setback to an event that has been plagued by construction delays, allegations of corruption and a dengue fever outbreak in the Indian capital.
Security fears were heightened at the weekend when two tourists were wounded by gunmen on a motorcycle near the Jama Masjid mosque in the capital.
The local organising committee has insisted that the city will be ready in time and the Games will go ahead.
"Some people may not come due to injuries or some other reason but we have a very good field taking part in the Games," committee secretary-general Lalit Bhanot told the AFP news agency.
"I can reassure everyone that the athletes will enjoy their stay in New Delhi. The stadiums are world class and so is the Games village. We will be ready by the time they start arriving this week."
But Australia's world discus champion Dani Samuels had already said she will not attend because of health and safety concerns, and the country's Sports Minister Mark Arbib said more Australian athletes might follow.
English world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu has also withdrawn from the event, citing security concerns.
Two other members of the England team - Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu and 1,500m runner Lisa Dobriskey - pulled out, blaming injury worries.
Scotland has delayed the departure of its first delegation to the Games, saying they could not send athletes to an incomplete site.
"We're doing everything we can to try and get our team out there to try and win medals for Scotland but we really need the Delhi organisers to understand the urgency of the situation," Michael Cavanagh, chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland, told the BBC.
"We all need to be confident that we can send our athletes into an environment which is safe and secure and healthy for them and we simply won't compromise on that. We don't believe the rest of the village is a safe environment. There are piles of rubble. The rest of the village is filthy."
Sir Andrew Foster, the chairman of Commonwealth Games England, said English officials were touring the facilities again to identify any problems.
"I think the next 24, 48 hours will be the critical time that tells us whether the village, which is where the main problem is now, has got enough accommodation for people to come into it," he said.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key told reporters on Wednesday that any cancellation of the Games could be disastrous for the future of the event and for India's world standing.
But he added: "If an individual athlete decides they don't want to go for their own reasons, I would support them because I think, in the end, they have to make their own decision on whether they feel comfortable or not with the risks involved."
The head of New Zealand's Commonwealth Games team, Dave Currie, earlier warned that if the arrivals of the athletes had to be pushed back, it could ultimately result in the competition being cancelled.'Cultural cleanliness'
The Indian media has fiercely criticised the preparations for the games, describing visitors' assessment of the facilities as an national embarrassment.
"India has been shamed globally," said a front page editorial in the Times of India, calling for those responsible for the problems to be "identified and brought to book".
"It may not restore our reputation, but at least it will show that we, as a nation, value our honour," it read.
The Asian Age blamed "inept, inefficient and corrupt administrators" for the problems.
The Indian government has convened a high-level meeting to review the situation.
Delhi Lt-Governor Tejinder Khanna has reportedly been told by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to personally oversee the work and submit a status report every day.
Mr Bhanot earlier said the authorities understood the concerns shown by some member countries and the Commonwealth Games Federation.
But he suggested that the complaints could be due to cultural differences.
"Everyone has different standards about cleanliness. The Westerners have different standards, we have different standards," he said.
Officials from the Ministry of Sports promised last year that the village would be ready in March 2010. Built alongside the Yamuna River in the east of Delhi, it consists of a series of blocks of flats to house about 7,000 athletes and their families, a 2,300-seat cafeteria, and practice areas.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11386926
It appears that those smug curry munchers, who always seem to be bragging about their so-called "civilisational achievements" and "rich history" (while sickening one with their rank body odour), are incapable of organising anything - apart from corruption networks, that is.No surprises there.
Hmm,maybe if they had employed more of the hated British "colonialists" to do the thinking for them, these problems may have been averted...
One must love that statement about different standards of cleanliness. So, are the filthy beggars finally admitting to their lack of hygiene and preference for teeming squalor?
Further doubts have been cast over next month's Delhi Commonwealth Games after two athletes withdrew and others postponed travelling to the event.
Some of the Scottish team have delayed their departure to Delhi while an English and an Australian athlete have both pulled out over security concerns.
The moves come amid heavy criticism of the state of facilities at the Games from officials and the Indian media.
Indian authorities say the site will be ready in time for the opening.
Michael Fennell, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, is travelling to Delhi for a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who took charge of the city's preparations a month ago.
On Tuesday, Mr Fennell said advance teams who went to inspect the facilities had been shocked by what they had seen at the athletes' village, where toilets were filthy and flats unfinished.
Also on Tuesday, a footbridge under construction near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main Games venue, collapsed, injuring 27 workers, five seriously.
On Wednesday, 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".'World class'
It was the latest setback to an event that has been plagued by construction delays, allegations of corruption and a dengue fever outbreak in the Indian capital.
Security fears were heightened at the weekend when two tourists were wounded by gunmen on a motorcycle near the Jama Masjid mosque in the capital.
The local organising committee has insisted that the city will be ready in time and the Games will go ahead.
"Some people may not come due to injuries or some other reason but we have a very good field taking part in the Games," committee secretary-general Lalit Bhanot told the AFP news agency.
"I can reassure everyone that the athletes will enjoy their stay in New Delhi. The stadiums are world class and so is the Games village. We will be ready by the time they start arriving this week."
But Australia's world discus champion Dani Samuels had already said she will not attend because of health and safety concerns, and the country's Sports Minister Mark Arbib said more Australian athletes might follow.
English world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu has also withdrawn from the event, citing security concerns.
Two other members of the England team - Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu and 1,500m runner Lisa Dobriskey - pulled out, blaming injury worries.
Scotland has delayed the departure of its first delegation to the Games, saying they could not send athletes to an incomplete site.
"We're doing everything we can to try and get our team out there to try and win medals for Scotland but we really need the Delhi organisers to understand the urgency of the situation," Michael Cavanagh, chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland, told the BBC.
"We all need to be confident that we can send our athletes into an environment which is safe and secure and healthy for them and we simply won't compromise on that. We don't believe the rest of the village is a safe environment. There are piles of rubble. The rest of the village is filthy."
Sir Andrew Foster, the chairman of Commonwealth Games England, said English officials were touring the facilities again to identify any problems.
"I think the next 24, 48 hours will be the critical time that tells us whether the village, which is where the main problem is now, has got enough accommodation for people to come into it," he said.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key told reporters on Wednesday that any cancellation of the Games could be disastrous for the future of the event and for India's world standing.
But he added: "If an individual athlete decides they don't want to go for their own reasons, I would support them because I think, in the end, they have to make their own decision on whether they feel comfortable or not with the risks involved."
The head of New Zealand's Commonwealth Games team, Dave Currie, earlier warned that if the arrivals of the athletes had to be pushed back, it could ultimately result in the competition being cancelled.'Cultural cleanliness'
The Indian media has fiercely criticised the preparations for the games, describing visitors' assessment of the facilities as an national embarrassment.
"India has been shamed globally," said a front page editorial in the Times of India, calling for those responsible for the problems to be "identified and brought to book".
"It may not restore our reputation, but at least it will show that we, as a nation, value our honour," it read.
The Asian Age blamed "inept, inefficient and corrupt administrators" for the problems.
The Indian government has convened a high-level meeting to review the situation.
Delhi Lt-Governor Tejinder Khanna has reportedly been told by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to personally oversee the work and submit a status report every day.
Mr Bhanot earlier said the authorities understood the concerns shown by some member countries and the Commonwealth Games Federation.
But he suggested that the complaints could be due to cultural differences.
"Everyone has different standards about cleanliness. The Westerners have different standards, we have different standards," he said.
Officials from the Ministry of Sports promised last year that the village would be ready in March 2010. Built alongside the Yamuna River in the east of Delhi, it consists of a series of blocks of flats to house about 7,000 athletes and their families, a 2,300-seat cafeteria, and practice areas.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11386926
It appears that those smug curry munchers, who always seem to be bragging about their so-called "civilisational achievements" and "rich history" (while sickening one with their rank body odour), are incapable of organising anything - apart from corruption networks, that is.No surprises there.
One must love that statement about different standards of cleanliness. So, are the filthy beggars finally admitting to their lack of hygiene and preference for teeming squalor?