Delhi Games at last

By Ifeanyi Ibeh

October 3, 2010 02:51AM

Despite the negative publicity it received over the past few months, the 19th Commonwealth Games will actually take place in New Delhi, India.

Seven years ago, the sprawling city of over 18 million inhabitants was awarded the hosting rights to what started out 80 years ago in Hamilton, Canada as the British Empire Games.

But rather than showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the second most populated country in the world, the Commonwealth Games has only extensively highlighted a country bedevilled by corruption, in which there is a huge gulf between the poor and the rich.

Besides the corruption and poverty - according to the United Nations, by 2005, 42 per cent of its 1.2 billion inhabitants lived below the World Bank's international poverty line of $1.25 a day, there's also the case of missed construction deadlines as well as the threat of a attacks from terror groups.

In the past few weeks, reports of dubious construction certificates were proven when a footbridge at the main stadium collapsed injuring many workers.

Corrupt Games

Just last Wednesday, a Supreme Court justice in Delhi said corruption was rampant in the Commonwealth Games and that the event will turn into a source of self-enrichment for many involved in organising the Games.

A report in the Times of India newspaper even went as far as reporting that Suresh Kalmadi, the organising committee's chairman, was "an inept organiser" who has filled his committee with his buddies, 19 of whom have employed family members.

Most employees within the organising committee were not properly qualified for their positions but were "selected on the basis of being wives, children, nephews and relations of persons who run Indian sport," the newspaper reported.

Not prepared to sit back and take all the blame, Kalmadi accused the Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper of doing nothing in his four years as a temporary Delhi resident.

Hooper, a New Zealander, has reportedly been living the high life at the expense of the Indian government over the past four years but was recently accused of insulting Indians by saying Delhi's "population hazard" hampered the organisation of the Games.

Terror groups

An even bigger threat to the Games than the feud between the two, even bigger than the unhygienic conditions inside the unfinished athletes village or the venomous cobras that have been found at the athletes village, is the ever looming threat of attacks from terror groups.

The Times of India reported that last week, a Pakistani journalist known for his links to the Pakistan intelligence complex met an Indian diplomat in Islamabad to say that he had spoken to Ilyas Kashmiri, leader of Al Qaida's Pakistan-based 313 Brigade. According to the journalist, Kashmiri threatened an attack in India during the Games.

Indian and other foreign security agencies went into overdrive to assess the threat. But officials argued that there was none of the signs that were evident in the run-up to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which lasted for four days between November 26-29, killing at least 173 people and wounding at least 308.

On Thursday, the government officially warned Delhi Police and other security agencies, as well as security officials of each participating team, about this new "information", which led to a stern warning from the Indian home secretary Gopal Pillai to the Pakistani high commissioner Shahid Malik that any terror attack in India during the Commonwealth Games traced back to Pakistan will essentially be treated as a hostile act.

Malik was reminded of a threat by Kashmiri earlier this year that athletes coming for the Commonwealth Games would be targeted by his terror group. Kashmiri had also threatened to attack the country's top cricket league - the Indian Premier League - and the World Cup hockey tournament in Delhi but no attacke took place.

Nevertheless, the Pakistani government are also not taking the report lightly. The Daily Times of Pakistan reported on Thursday that Pakistan's Interior Ministry, along with various security establishments, are in a "state of panic" regarding the threat, which might jeopardise the already strained relations between both countries.

Even if the terror threat is not "credible", Indian agencies believe this could be another tactic to spread fear.

Hopefully, the more than 100,000 security officials, including elite commandos, provided by the Indian government for the Games should be able prevent any attack during the event.

Withdrawals take shine off Games

Many also hope that once the Games start, the negativity surrounding it will become a thing of the past and that the focus will be on the athletes. But there are doubts regarding such a possibility as many of the best athletes in the Commonwealth will not participate.

They include the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt and his predecessor, Asafa Powell, as well as five high profile Kenyan athletes - Olympic 1,500m champion, Asbel Kiprop; world 800m record holder, David Rudisha; world 10,000m champion, Linet Masai; former World marathon champion, Luke Kibet; and Commonwealth Games 800m champion, Janeth Jepkosgei.

Australia's world discus champion, Dani Samuels and England's triple jump world champion, Phillips Idowu, as well as Olympic 400m champion, Christine Ohuruogu, and most recently South Africa's high-profile world 800m champion, Caster Semenya, have also pulled out of the Games.

Injuries, security and health reasons have been cited by many of the athletes as reasons for their withdrawal.

Their absence notwithstanding, the Games will be held, as scheduled. Probably, the only fear as the apprehensive world awaits the opening ceremony is whether spectators will be able to fill up the venues and cheer the athletes to glory as thousands of Games tickets remain unsold.