Games blues fading away

From 18 points of concern pointed out by the Commonwealth Games Association a few months ago, it has whittled down to just five now. 

Sanjay Kapoor London Hardnews

India will have a great commonwealth games, claims Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the organising committee. And, he has no less than President of the Commonwealth Games Association (CGA), Michael Fennell, to endorse his statement.  

Contrary to the reports about the spat between Kalmadi and the London-based CGA over the delay in preparation for the games, Fennel has a lot of good things to say about the upcoming Delhi games. On Tuesday, he met Fennell in London. Kalmadi is here for the Queen's baton event at Buckingham palace on Thursday. He draws comfort from the press release issued by Fennell on October 12, 2009. The release says: 

# In spite of lagging behind in building the infrastructure for the games, we feel that the venues will be ready in time for the necessary overlay installations and the test events to be held. 

# There is a commitment to security by the relevant authorities. Good progress is being made on the security front. 

# Everyone in the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly feels that they have been operating in a safe and secure environment. 

# International experts appointed to oversee games village operations, press operations, transport, ticketing and accreditation. 

Kalmadi who met Hardnews in his London apartment at St James Court said that the areas of concern, as articulated by the CGA, have narrowed quite a bit. From 18 points of concern a few months ago, it has whittled down to just five. Among them are opening and closing ceremony, venue operations and infrastructure, too. By the time the coordination commission shows up in December, fewer areas are expected to be in the pickle. 

The chairman of the committee feels that the games will raise the quality and standard of sports in the country. He thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for granting Rs 1,700 crore for sports. This has facilitated the sports organisations to hire foreign coaches and send teams and sportsmen to train abroad. 

Kalmadi, however, did not want to comment on whether he would welcome greater involvement of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi in the organisation of the games.