Commonwealth Games 2010: Chef de mission Pakistan gets robbed
As the troubled Delhi Games are proceeding, the list of problems that the officials and representatives of the Organizing Committee have to face is getting bigger. With the women’s 100 metre sprint controversy half way through the solution, another problem
arises. The chef de Mission of the Pakistan contingent has claimed the theft of 24,800 Indian rupees from his room in the Games Village. Dr. Mohammad Ali Shah is also the Sindh Sports Minister of Pakistan. He recorded a statement saying that 24,800 were taken
from his blazer, while he was gone out to have breakfast on Friday morning. Dr. Shah has already been tortured by the boycott threats hurled at him by the weightlifters of Team Pakistan after his decision to carry the Pakistani flag at the opening ceremony.
The chef de Mission was subjected to intense criticism in India as well as Pakistan for this act, since it is the right of the best athlete of a contingent to its country’s flag at the opening ceremony.
Shah also told the officials that he had placed his blazer with money in it in the cupboard. Before lodging a complaint with the Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee, Shah said “When I came back the money was not there”, while talking to the correspondents
of a local news channel.
After receiving a written complaint from Shah, the officials of the Organizing Committee have asked the police to investigate the matter.
Angry Shah also told the correspondents that he had told the managers of the Village not to allow any outsider into the rooms of any member of the Pakistani contingent in their absence. He added that he apprehends that someone stole the master key of the
Village to break into his room and steal the money.
Shah had barely gotten out of the controversy of the opening ceremony, with the help of the intervention of the Pakistan Olympic Association President Arif Hasan, now that he made headlines once again. The honour of carrying the Pakistani flag at the opening
ceremony was designated to the weightlifter Shujauddin Malik but Shan forcefully marched with the flag, after which the athletes of the contingent threatened to withdraw from the Games.
The Organizing Committee was already struggling with the extremely low ticket sell out, which is plunging the crisis hit and troubled event into an immense economic loss for the Indian government and the Commonwealth Games Federation. The overall ticket
sell-out of almost all the disciplines is not more than 10-20 percent. The athletes are very disappointed to play at empty venues with no fans cheering for them.
The volunteers for the Games are also threatening to give up volunteering for the mega event because the organizers are not even providing them with a necessity as basic as meals two times a day. Their demand of competition results being broadcasted to them
live has also been ruled out by the officials of the organizing committee. This has left the volunteers furious over the officials and some of them have already boycotted from volunteering for the event.
The president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Mike Fennell has also blamed the officials and managers at the Athletics venues for the communication blunder following the women’s 100 metre sprint event leaving the members of Team Australia furious.
Sally Pearson was declared the winner of the race, but soon after she started preparing for the medal ceremony she was disqualified from the event without her being informed about the decision. She admitted that she might have made a false start and her reaction
time might have been quick (0.071 seconds), but she said that she was called back when she was going for the medal ceremony draped in Australia’s flag, which was just wrong.
Officials of Team Australia and Team England have also blamed the water of the practise, warm up and competition pools of the Games venues of being unhygienic and causing the spread of the stomach virus, which has laid down their swimmers.
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