Dubai: After days of being slammed by the world media over its lack of preparedness, organisers of the Commonwealth Games heaved a sigh of relief as teams started arriving for the October 3-14 mega-event in the Indian capital.
In a major boost leading up to the beleaguered preparations, top international sports officials said that conditions at the athletes' village had greatly improved.
New Zealand was the first team to arrive for the Games, while a total of 47 athletes consisting of the English hockey and lawn bowling teams also arrived in New Delhi, though preferring to stay in hotels till Sunday before moving to the village.
Excited
"Everybody is very excited, wants to get there, get in with the action and get going really," Caroline Searle, spokeswoman for the English team, said on arrival. Some of the athletes later toured the village to assess the conditions.
Commonwealth Games Federation President Mike Fennell toured the village on Friday and met with top athletic officials from participating countries.
The head of Australia's Commonwealth Games Association, Perry Crosswhite, was upbeat as well. "I am very pleased with the village as of now," he said while adding that the Australian team would arrive in Delhi on Monday.
Scotland's team was expected to start flying to New Delhi today after delaying its departure to India. Wales also said it was sending its team as planned after receiving assurances that the facilities were up to scratch.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal downplayed security apprehensions raised by some teams. "I am completely satisfied with the security arrangements. We have been preparing for months now," Dadwal said.
Dadwal, who is the commanding officer for over 100,000 security personnel that would be pressed into action for the sporting extravaganza, took a tour of the Games Village to take stock of the security arrangements. He assured that security has been completely taken care of and there is nothing to fear.
Paramilitary forces
Besides more than 100,000 personnel including commandos drawn from the paramilitary forces, there will be helicopters with commandos and unmanned aerial vehicles guarding the airspace. chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear teams of the army as well as the National Disaster Relief Force would also be deployed.
Do you think Australia was too harsh in its criticism of preparations for the Games? Or do you agree? Do you think India will be ready in time to host the Games?
