Commonwealth Games: 'Midnight' nears for the Delhi Games

Dave Currie. Photo / Kenny Rodger

Long-brewing storm clouds are gathering over New Delhi with fears growing that next month's Commonwealth Games won't go ahead.

New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie, who has been stunned by the unreadiness of the athletes' village since arriving in the Indian capital last week, says the Games organisers are in severe difficulties.

"They've got a little bit of time, but it's kind of two seconds to midnight really," he said.

Commonwealth Games Federation boss Mike Fennell described the village as seriously compromised and national team officials were shocked at its state.

New Zealand's original accommodation block was uninhabitable, and so far behind the play that New Zealand Olympic Committee officials took it on themselves to hire their own group of cleaners to try to speed the operation up.

"But by then we were starting to realise it was quite a big job and the offer came to try one of the other apartments," an NZOC spokesperson said last night.

"We felt on balance it would be better to go from a slightly higher starting point."

The NZOC is sufficiently concerned that its president Mike Stanley and secretary general Barry Maister flew to New Delhi last night on an unscheduled trip to assess the situation.

The opening ceremony for the 19th edition of the Games - under its various titles - is due on October 3.

The first batch of athletes are expected to arrive tomorrow; New Zealand's first arrivals are scheduled for Saturday.

"Since Dave and the team have been there it's fair to say the challenges have increased in terms of getting Delhi ready for the Games," Stanley said yesterday.

"That has obvious implications, but we want to give organisers every opportunity to get things right."

New Zealand were first put in tower block 32, one of the newest to be built.

Its toilet and shower facilities were sub-standard, building site debris had not been removed and human excrement was found in some rooms, which had been left unlocked at night and were used by labourers.

"We're not being precious," Stanley said of the accommodation shift. "The living conditions were unacceptable, potentially unsafe and unhygienic."

The new accommodation in two smaller towers houses the entire New Zealand contingent.

"It's way ahead of what we were originally given, but it still needs some work to be done," Stanley said.

Other aspects of the Games village, such as the food hall and international zone, looked "very good," Stanley said. "But the athletes' accommodation is the overriding concern."

The clock has been ticking for months on New Delhi. Throw in allegations of corruption, security worries and construction delays and the combined effect is a desperately grim picture.

Of the 34 towers forming the athletes' village, only 18 are ready for occupancy.

Ireland, Scotland and Canada are understood to have been dissatisfied with what they saw and have also taken up offers to switch towers.

"In the time frame that is left, unless there is tremendous effort and problem-solving ability to get it done, it's going to be extremely hard to get across the line," Currie said.

Former Olympic marathon champion Steve Moneghetti, who is Australia's chef de mission, said the organisers "have got two days to do what's probably going to take about two weeks".

However, British team chief Craig Hunter struck an out-of-step chord with the generally gloomy perspective.

He claimed the Games village is "better than the Beijing Olympics".

"Every Games village has progressed and this one sets a new standard," Hunter said.

Stanley and Maister return to New Zealand in time for Friday's NZOC meeting at which a decision on whether the country will take part in the Games is likely to be taken.

Swimming New Zealand have a contingency plan if the Games are canned. "We've arranged with the other Commonwealth countries to have a ... swimming event, which any one of three countries could host at this stage," general performance manager Jan Cameron said last night.