SPORT-LD CWG 2

Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Michael Cavanagh
said that they have delayed the departure of the first party
of 41 athletes, which included the boxing, rugby sevens and
wrestling contingent.
"By delaying the arrival of our athletes by a few days,
we hope to give the Delhi 2010 Organising Committee the
necessary time to address the concerns that have been raised
by both the Commonwealth Games Federation and the countries
which arrived early," Cavanagh said.
"We have discussed this with the sports involved and are
in agreement that this is the best course of action under the
circumstances. Whilst this is an untimely alteration to their
plans, it will ultimately cause less disruption to their final
training and preparation than if they were to arrive in the
Games Village which is not yet fit for purpose and fully
functional.
To add to the woes of the organisers, Wales is also
considering its options after giving the OC a deadline of
tomorrow evening to confirm if all venues and the Village are
fit for purpose.
A Team Wales statement read, "The health and safety of
our team has always been our top priority - which is why we've
been so desperate to resolve the issues in the Games Village.
With yesterday's news of the bridge collapse and now the roof
of the weightlifting venue, we have to take a step back and
examine how safe it is to bring athletes into this
environment.
"We have given the Organising Committee a deadline of
this evening to confirm if all venues and the Games Village
are fit for purpose. On the basis of that announcement, we
will be contacting athletes via our team managers and advise
them of the latest position and will issue a further update."
With just 11 days to go for the start of the event, the
shoddy preparations and security concens have triggered the
withdrawal of two high-profile athletes besides pull out
threats from some participating nations.
Within hours of CGF chief Fennell's scathing attack on
the organisers, world champion Australian discus thrower Dani
Samuel led the pull out bandwagon citing Sunday's gun attack
on two Taiwanese nationals and the recent outbreak of dengue
fever here.
Another world champion, England's Phillips Idowu, who was
to defend his 1500m gold here, followed suit, saying that his
safety is more important than a medal.
Hours before Idowu's pull out, compatriots -- Olympic
400m champion Christine Ohuruogu and Melbourne Games 1500m
gold medallist Lisa Dobriskey -- also decided to skip the
Games due to injuries, seriously depleting the star presence
in the CWG after the withdrawal of Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell,
Chris Hoy, David Rudish, Shelly-An Fraser among others. More
PTI Team
KAB


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