Common sense must prevail in deciding whether New Zealand's athletes will go to India for this year's Commonwealth Games and the safety of athletes must be paramount.
Elite athletes have limited time at the top of their sports so it would be a terrible shame if New Zealand were not represented,
but if the safety of our athletes can not be guaranteed or the risk of something happening is deemed to be high, the decision-makers may have to make a tough call.
New Zealand Olympic Committee chef de mission Dave Currie is on his way to India and will spend 10 days there determining whether the New Delhi organising committee is capable of implementing its security plan and whether the venues and village are ready to host the event.
There have been problems and concerns relating to venues and the safety of athletes since New Delhi was announced as the venue for the Games and a dengue fever outbreak is now adding to the issues which must be taken into consideration.
A decision about whether New Zealand athletes will go to the Games is expected next week but the mother of Rotorua cyclist Clinton Avery, who replaced an unavailable Julian Dean in the Kiwi team, says officials should pull the pin now.
Maryann Avery won't be the only New Zealander who has been uneasy about India hosting the Games since day one and she's quite rightly worried about her Belgium-based son's safety.
Rotorua-based sevens team manager Ross Everiss says there are certainly plenty of challenges involved in going to New Delhi but he hasn't gone so far as to express any specific concerns about the welfare or safety of the athletes.
If New Zealand officials decide our country will be represented at the Games, it should then be up to individual athletes and others in the Kiwi contingent to decide if they will go.
It would be naive to simply take the attitude that the chances of something happening are slim, because any chance means there is a risk and nobody should be made to go against their will.
