Athletes delay departure for troubled Commonwealth Games

(News Today) - Scotland is delaying the departure of its first team of athletes for the Commonwealth Games in India amid concerns the competitors' village is unfinished and not up to standard, the delegation said Wednesday.

It came after a third English athlete and an Australian athlete pulled out of the competition, citing safety and health fears.

The quadrennial games, due to open in New Delhi on October 3, are already plagued by criticism and the collapse of a pedestrian bridge at a stadium on Tuesday. Australia also issued a travel alert earlier this week warning of a heightened risk of terrorism in the Indian capital during the event.

About 6,500 athletes from 71 teams -- mostly from countries of former British Empire - are due to travel to India for the games and will play in newly built or renovated stadia. India, the Commonwealth's most populous nation, is hosting the games for the first time.

Team Scotland said its first party of 41 athletes and staff were delaying their arrival because of concerns "that a significant part of the athletes' village residential zone is far from finished and nowhere near an acceptable standard in terms of health, safety, and hygiene."

It also said there are "a number of serious operational deficiencies."

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Michael Cavanagh, chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland, said he hoped the delay would give organizers more time to address the concerns.

English world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu said Wednesday he was pulling out after thinking about his family. He said the decision was disappointing for him because he won his first international medal at the Commonwealth Games eight years ago.

"All the press today about bridges collapsing and 23-plus people being hurt, floods and unhabitable living conditions, getting my daughter ready for school this morning and seeing all of that put me off," Idowu wrote in a Twitter posting. "Can't afford to risk my safety in the slightest."

He added that it "was a tough choice to make but I made it for my children."

Two other English athletes, Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu and medal hopeful Lisa Dobriskey, pulled out of the games Tuesday because of injury-related problems, a Team England spokeswoman said.

World discus champion Dani Samuels of Australia announced Tuesday she was pulling out because of health hazards including dengue fever, her manager, Hayden Knowles, told CNN.

"It's not a decision that she came to lightly," Knowles said. "The Commonwealth Games are definitely something on her list of things she wanted to achieve."

Knowles said Samuels was worried she would become sick and was also concerned about a weekend shooting in Delhi.

A pedestrian bridge under construction for the games collapsed Tuesday, injuring 27 people, New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.

The bridge near Jawarharlal Nehru Stadium came down while workers were laying a concrete slab, said Rakesh Mishra, engineer-in-chief for New Delhi's Public Works Department.

Designed as a pathway from a parking area to the stadium, the bridge was scheduled for completion this week.

Mike Hooper, chief executive officer of the Commonwealth Games Federation, complained of the conditions inside the rooms where the athletes are expected to live.

"Filth, excrement -- it really is disgusting in parts. And it really requires a professional, deep clean throughout the entire complex," he said.

The organizing committee was eager to soothe concerns and said an "intense effort" is being made to address all of the issues being raised about the athletes' village.

Some work, especially deep cleaning, has already started, said Lalit Bhanot, secretary-general of the Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi.

"We have started work in the 32 towers and will complete it before the arrival of the athletes," he said. "In fact, we have cleaned apartments in more than 60 percent of the towers."

The mayor of the village, Dalbir Singh, said some of the issues arose because the apartments have been unoccupied.

"It is an ongoing process and a structure for maintenance is in place," he said. "We will resolve all concerns."

Monsoon rains have similarly compounded the woes, with a spike in cases of dengue fever, water-logged streets and massive traffic snarls.

Earlier this week, security concerns heightened after a shooting attack Sunday on a bus near a New Delhi mosque injured two Taiwanese tourists. Police, however, downplayed the assault as "local mischief," insisting the city is safe for visitors.

Source : CNN

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