CWG gets a big boost. Australia extremely happy with conditions-28/09/2010

28/09/2010

CWG gets a big boost. Australia extremely happy with conditions

The CWG 2010 received huge thumbs up from the most unexpected source. The Aussies, who were among the first contingents to express their reservations on the quality of the event have now hailed the conditions in Delhi. The Aussie Chef de mission has said he hasn’t received a single complaint from his team over the last couple of days.



New Delhi: Australian chef de mission Steve Moneghetti is extremely happy with the facilities at the Commonwealth Games Village, but said athletes will not be allowed to move around freely till the sporting extravaganza is over.

Moneghetti, a marathon gold medallist at the 1994 Victoria Games, said the athletes have been advised not to wear their team jerseys outside the Commonwealth Games venues to avoid being possible terror targets.

Athletes from England, Canada and New Zealand have also been banned from wearing their team colours outside the venues.

"Haven't got any official confirmation from Australian Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA) on what we are going to do. But security is perfect and they are not taking any chances with the Australian athletes," Moneghetti told reporters at the Games Village.

"It is too dangerous to leave the Games Village. They have some strict security procedure in place," he added.



'Games Village in nice shape'

"We cannot move around freely. The athletes have to come back to the Village after finishing the events and can only go to cheer their fellow countrymen. They will be allowed to move freely only after the Games are over," he said.

Moneghetti, who was the mayor of the Village at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006, said the much-criticised Games Village is in nice shape and the athletes don't have any complains.

"We are happy with everything here at the Games Village. We arrived here Sunday morning and the transition from the airport to the Games Village was smooth. We are absolutely happy with the traffic," he said.



"I haven't received a single complaint from the athletes about the Games Village. Accommodation is perfect and the dining area is excellent," he added.

Some 7,000 participants and officials from 71 countries and territores are expected to attend the Commonwealth Games -- India's biggest sporting event since the 1982 Asian Games, though negative publicity in the run-up may considerably deplete the number of visitors from abroad.



Kalmadi says corruption charges are 'conspiracy against India'

Suresh Kalmadi is a battered and bruised man these days. But, he is equally a man in a mood to dare. In a television interview late last night, the CWG boss slammed former Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and CGF CEO Mike Hooper and threw a fresh challenge.

New Delhi: "Hang me if I am proved guilty," Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi declared dramatically Monday, even as he ruled out his resignation on the graft charges that have hit the Games preparations, terming this a "conspiracy against India".

"I am ready to face a judicial enquiry after the Games on corruption charges, hang me if I am proved guilty," he told CNN-IBN editor-in-chief Rajdeep Sardesai in an interview. The "conspiracy against the Games is a conspiracy against India" and a "few pictures of dirty toilets does not mean that the Games Village is not world class", Kalmadi maintained.




'What was Mike Hooper doing for 4 years'?
Kalmadi said he had never considered resigning at any stage. "Never, my team of four thousand people are working day and night and I always knew that it will be a great Games and the government of India has given me a total support," he said.

"I take responsibility for mess but must be given credit if the Games are a success," Kalmadi said. He charged former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyer - a prominent detractor - for not having moved on Games for two years and also trained his guns on Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Mike Hooper, who last week had described the conditions in the Village as "filthy and unlivable".

"Mike Hooper has been in India for four years, what was he doing," Kalmadi asked.

About 7,000 athletes and officials from 71 countries and territories will take part in the 11-day Games, the biggest sports event to be hosted by India after the 1982 Asiad. The event has been dogged by many controversies, the latest being the inauguration issue, which has somewhat been resolved though.



'I am getting the hell out of India during CWG'

Manishankar Aiyar has drifted into troubled waters again. A staunch critic of the CWG 2010 for many days now, Aiyar has left India for the next couple of weeks citing his unwillingness to be a part of the nation's sporting extravaganza.

New Delhi: A vocal critic of the Commonwealth Games, senior Congress leader Manishankar Aiyar today left the Capital, saying he will be "hell out of the country" during the mega sporting event.

"I am getting the hell out of the country," Aiyar said shortly before he left Delhi. He is believed to have gone to London with the event just round the corner. Aiyar had said last month that he was in no mood to witness the games and that he will opt to stay out of Delhi.

"I am hell out of the country for these two weeks, since I do not want to witness the games," Aiyar had said after attending ex-Union minister Shashi Tharoor's marriage in Kerala on August 22.

59-year-old Aiyar, who has often gone ballistic for holding the Games in India, has stuck to his stand that it was premature for India to conduct such big sporting events.



"The money being spent on the games could have been utilised for developing infrastructure in rural areas and for training sports persons in various disciplines to make India a strong sporting nation," he had said. Aiyar had also created a furore by saying he would be unhappy if the Commonwealth Games are a success and that only "evil" will patronise them.

Earlier this week, Aiyar had launched a scathing attack on Mike Fennell and Mike Hooper for criticizing India's preparations. Aiyar said the duo had no right to simply pass the buck. He added they should share the blame. "Fennell and Hooper were associated with [Suresh] Kalmadi since the beginning. What right do they now have to level allegations at the last minute? They are doing it just to save themselves," Aiyar said.



Suresh Kalmadi puts up a brave face, says problems sorted out

New Delhi: Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi today claimed that all major problems in the much-criticised Athletes Village have been sorted out and a majority of the flats were ready to be occupied. "People are now happy with whatever they have got. Over a 1000 people have come now and they are very happy. Most of the athletes are happy," Kalmadi told reporters here.

"80 per cent of the flats are fine. The sun is out and everything will be fine. All the athletes are happy," he said. The Games Village was initially dubbed filthy by the visiting delegates and there was more criticism when the South African High Commissioner claimed that a snake was found in the one of the athletes' rooms.



But Kalmadi said all complaints have been addressed."We have done whatever that had to be done. Whatever problems were there earlier have been sorted out. I don't think they have seen a Games Village like this anywhere else.

There is no more scope for improvement," Kalmadi said. Asked why the cleaning up of the Village was left to just a week before the Games, Kalmadi said this was not OC's responsibility.

"Cleaning is not my job, it should have come clean to us when it was handed over. But everyone is happy now and there would be no further problems. We have some small issues but they will be sorted out," he said.

Source: PTI