Commonwealth Games Delhi

[IanD]

Hey guys

Hope we are all in good form. Not out to start a historical/political discussion but.......
If Ireland were part of the Commonwealth would you expect out athletes to travel to Delhi?

Having read the below report I am amazed that teams are still heading out and I would back any athlete not wanting to travel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/commonw ... 025907.stm

I was stunned when I read this -

Lalit Bhanot, secretary general of the organising committee, said in a news conference that the athletes' accommodation needed a "deep cleaning", but everything would be ready on time.

"According to us the room may be clean, but the foreign officials may require a certain standard of cleanliness and hygiene which may differ from our standards," he said."We are on the job and everyone is working day and night."

He added: "All other things and all other venues are ready and in the best of condition to conduct these events."

If the photos are Indian standards of clean I think I will head to the Chinese.

[BlueArmyOriginal]

If the only evidence I was given were those photos I'd pull the plug on the Irish Team travelling but this story seems to be developing at a fierce pace every day so you never know what sort of state the place is in now. The fact that England, Wales, Norn Iron, Scotland, Oz and NZ have now said that they're happy to send their
teams over must indicate that improvements are being made. The Indians have history of this kind of last minute approach too so thay may yet pull it out of the fire, much smaller scale and far less sophisticated to stage but in the last Volvo Ocean Race there were concerns over whether they'd be ready for their stopover in Cochin but they just all showed up a week before the boats were due to arrive and blitzed the race village. They finished it the day the first boat came in!

To think after there being doubts about the preparations for the Sydney Olympics(IIRC), Athens Olympics(where they put Sydney on standby to host just in case) and the roundgame World Cup in SA in recent years we now might actually get to see what happens if a host isnt ready to stage an event!

One things for sure tho, there wont be a major sporting event of any kind being awarded to India now for a long time!

[kermischocolate]

If the only evidence I was given were those photos I'd pull the plug on the Irish Team travelling

Last time i checked ireland weren't part of the british commenwealth...

[BlueArmyOriginal]

If the only evidence I was given were those photos I'd pull the plug on the Irish Team travelling

Last time i checked ireland weren't part of the british commenwealth...

Hey guys

Hope we are all in good form. Not out to start a historical/political discussion but.......
If Ireland were part of the Commonwealth would you expect out athletes to travel to Delhi?

[ronk]

It's hardly the Beijing Olympics but I don't really see a major problem. All that stuff can be worked around and there's no rule that says you have to stay in the athlete's village.

Compared to what I've seen from other events, I don't really see that big a deal from the photos. Some of the other things relating to venues might be of more concern, but I've been to Delhi before, there's nothing really that surprising.

[Mackman15]

I can safely say that if i never return to Delhi in my life i will not be in any way unhappy.

I cannot agree with the suggestion that pictures such as this are nothing to be concerned.
I can only imagine the Joe Duffy levels of hysteria (however in that instances it being appropriate) that would accompany the Irish presentation of accommodation if we were to facilitate an event of its kind here.

It's deplorable and sooner the sensitivities of the Indian Organisers are ignored the better for all concerned.

I readily expect the tournament as a whole to descend into farce.

[BlueArmyOriginal]

It's hardly the Beijing Olympics but I don't really see a major problem. All that stuff can be worked around and there's no rule that says you have to stay in the athlete's village.

Compared to what I've seen from other events, I don't really see that big a deal from the photos. Some of the other things relating to venues might be of more concern, but I've been to Delhi before, there's nothing really that surprising.

Surely the fact the the army have been called in to finish work and replace the infamous footbridge would suggest things are a bit worse than the usual scramble to get things ready? All will become clear on the weekend I suppose but I think this and the security fears doesnt bode well.

[IanD]

A bit of a joke now....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/commonw ... 057059.stm

The official weigh-in for the boxing competition at the Commonwealth Games has been put back until Tuesday after complaints the test scales were faulty.

Australia raised concerns over the official scales after one of their fighters was deemed overweight.

Several boxers were left shedding weight to reach desired categories.

Australian spokesman John Gatfield said: "They went to the sauna trying to lose weight and when they came back weighed more than the last reading."

[West Brit]

It's getting more and more ridiculous all the time. This is going to really damage India's reputation, especially in the Commonwealth countries.

[IanD]

It gets worse in a non sporting way.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/06102010/ ... gaffe.html