Commonwealth Games 2010: Games
Village gets the thumbs up
The much maligned hosts of the Commonwealth Games were given a real boost when most of the squad members from various countries arrived in India and seemed happy enough with the athletes’ village. The hosts were faced with a daunting
task over the past few days especially with the games’ opening day just around the corner.
In the last couple of months, reports of corruption emanated from the local media which resulted in a major operation clean-up led by the Indian government. After the corruption issues were finally put to rest, the past week was
extremely taxing for the organisers.
There was negative publicity from all quarters with reports of some dirty and unfinished blocks in the village. Subsequently, the organisers went into overdrive to ensure that there were no major pull outs before the event started.
Team England's general manager was happy with the facilities at the Village, dubbing them satisfactory. He said, "The athletes that have moved in today are absolutely happy; their rooms are ready and facilities are ready, so we
are very happy."
Similar sentiments were echoed by the Chef de Mission of Kenya who claimed that his athletes had endured worse conditions around the world. He observed that some of the reports had been hastily put forward and were baseless to
say the least.
"We have participated in such games in some other countries where the facilities are even poorer than what we are seeing here, so what we see as a team is that the highlighting of whatever was said here is with some ill intentions,
they are not generous," he stated.
Meanwhile the Indian government is not willing to take any liberties with the arrangements and security at and around the Village.
The Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, assured the media that work on the venue would end by Wednesday.
On Sunday, there was scathing criticism by Harris Mbulelo Majeke, the South African High Commissioner to India, who claimed that the arrangements were extremely shoddy and a threat to the inhabitants of the village after a snake
was found in an athlete's room.
He also complained about a lack of cleanliness in the Games Village and there were also reports that his country’s contingent threatened to pull out if the situation was not addressed in time.
On the other hand, the Chairman of the Organising Committee, Suresh Kalmadi, claimed that there has been great progress at the venue and all the arrangements have improved considerably.
He added that around 4,500 participants have reached the village and are gearing up for the event.
"We had couple of meetings in the Games village. We had regular Chef de Mission meetings, where all the problems are sorted out. And then, we have the Games Management Committee meeting, which is held now onwards everyday to sort
out any major problem. This is the single most important body to sort out all problems. So the meetings have gone well”.
Kalmadi brushed aside the reports and the bad press that the organisers have received and made a fairly outlandish claim that the Village was the best possible athletes’ facility any where in the world.
"We have done now whatever we have to do, and now there is not much scope for improvement. I think all the people I have met have enjoyed the Games village”.
The Games are set to run from 3rd to 14th October and some 7500 athletes are going to take part in the sporting carnival.
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