CWG – Scotland and NZ raise concerns about readiness

Some officials from the Scottish and New Zealand squads have raised concerns on the readiness of the Commonwealth Games to be staged in New Delhi, from Oct 3rd to 14th, with latest concerns about the Athletes’ Village.

In an interview given to the Scotsman.com, some of the officials from the Scottish team have voiced out their doubts whether it was safe to fly off to Delhi:  “The Games are under threat, because the organising committee have failed to keep their promises,” said Mr Cavanagh, the Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman, in quite a strong statement.  Michael Cavanagh and other colleagues still in Scotland are discussing the situation with Scotland chef de mission Jon Doig, who has been in Delhi since last week and first raised concerns about the state of the athletes’ village.

The Scottish delegation has asked to be moved away from the original plan in order to get a better spot on the village, and yet, had to help the local workers to get things cleaned up before the athletes arrive.

“In our tower, the standard of rooms was not up to expectations,” Mr Doig told The Scotsman. “Some rooms were not finished – people were still working there.

“Cleanliness was a major issue for us, and so were the fittings in the rooms. There were structural issues, too, particularly with the rain coming in.”

This comes just after a footbridge collapsed at the Jawaharlal Stadium yesterday. 

Earlier in the day, New Zealand officials also said they were not happy about the conditions on site:

New Zealand 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,” hinting that his delegation could just pull out of the event.

Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell agreed that conditions in the village were “seriously compromised”.

For Scotland’s Susan Egelstaff, who won bronze in badminton women’s singles Australia in 2006, it’s all up to the officials to decide. She and the other Scottish team members were set to depart from Glasgow on Thursday.

“As long as the team management say it is safe to go, I trust their judgment,” she said. “It’s certainly a worry, but they are the ones who are in India.”

The local authorities have addressed the guests concerned as stated on the official website:

“It is an ongoing process and a structure for maintenance is in place,”Games Village Mayor Maj, (retd) Dalbir Singh said. “We will resolve all concerns. The apartments have remained unoccupied and therefore some issues are coming up.”