Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi: Final Preparations
Athletes and delegates from Team Australia and Team England have started to move into the Games Village, now that less than six days are left for the event to start. The event has been drowned in crisis for a very long time now. A number of countries have
expressed their utter discontent over the security and living conditions of the Games Village. These teams also lodged complaints with the Organizing Committee and gave the officials deadlines to address their problems.
There are a couple of rumours floating in the media that there has been arguments going on between the Team England and the Organizing Committee over the opening ceremony that is scheduled to take place this Sunday, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
The team has shown its grave concern about the venue after the incident in which the bridge near the stadium collapsed took place. The argument is being kept very diplomatic though.
The number of problems which have confronted this one event in the past couple of month is unbelievable. Delegates are having problems with the hygienic conditions of the Games Village along with a threat of the dengue fever and influenza epidemic in the
region. The visitors and also some athletes have also delayed their departures for the Indian capital due to the poor security situation in the country amidst a constant woe from terrorists.
Since this event is the first major international event after the Summer Olympics of Beijing and the last before the Summer Olympics of London, the international community is expecting it to be one of its kind. However, the event has been plagued by issues
and some international personalities like the Australian Sport Minister have declared the country unfit to host such an event. Every single bit of the preparation process has been subjected to the worst from of criticism. The catalogue for the Commonwealth
Games has also not been approved by the international community accusing the Organizing Committee of being incompetent.
There is frantic race going on in New Delhi to finish all the work before all the delegates arrive at the Village and start lodging and messing, the critics say. The chief minister of the Indian capital, Sheila Dikshit said that she will only declare the
Games Village as being ready in the middle of this week. She was talking to the correspondents after inspecting the site on Sunday, the 26th of September.
On the other hand, a local Indian newspaper has quoted a subtle argument going on between the New Delhi and London over the inauguration of the Games. It has yet not been decided as to who will open the Games, the two contenders being Prince Charles and
the Indian President Pratibha Patil. The problem would have been solved if the head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth, would be attending the Games. Queen Elizabeth had announced her absence at the Games way back in late August. The Indian government has
not been very welcoming towards the statement issued by Prince Charles’ office, saying that he will be the replacement for the Queen.
The chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Mike Hooper said that the Organizing Committee India were given new deadlines one after another but the Committee did not live up to the expectations of the federations, rather new problems kept arising
every now and then.
Some officials of the Organizing Committee consider the attacks on the Games Village as a mere attempt to disgrace the country, but there are evidences why the Village cannot be considered liveable.
The High Commissioner of South Africa, Harris Mbulelo Majeke told the correspondents that a snake was found wandering in one of the rooms of the Residential Zone of the Games Village. On another occasion, Akhil Kumar, a boxer of the Indian team told the
correspondents that his bed broke down the minute he sat on it.
Progress has been made on part of the Indian Organizing Committee, but at this point when there is less than a week left for the much awaited event to start, cooperation from the international community is the utmost requirement to make the Games a success
and a memorable even.
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