Commonwealth Games: Recipe For Disaster

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As of today the Commonwealth Games in October are a disaster'. A startling confession made by a very senior member of the 2010 Delhi Organising Committee.

And it is no rant. The warning bells are there for everyone to see, if you look closely and beyond the tall claims that are being made every day that is. Sports Minister MS Gill has been promising a games better than the Beijing Olympics and with better facilities. For him every venue is better than Beijing. This writer has covered multi-discipline games extensively, the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, the 2006 Doha Asian games as well as the Beijing Olympics in 2008, so it is easy to look beyond the obvious mumbo jumbo that is thrown our way. Mr Minister you probably went to some other place, if we can come even 50 percent near to what Beijing put out then it will be a miracle.

Ever since February Delhi has been hosting various test events. And needless to say each and every one of them have been an organizational disaster. The overwhelming view prevalent at the moment is that the stadiums are running behind schedule and infrastructure projects are not complete. But remember what Mike Fennel and the Commonwealth Games federation said in October. They seriously questioned the Organising Committee's ability to deliver a successful games. In simple terms they meant the day to day running of the games. And based on the test events so far it is no exaggeration to say that they have every right to be worried.

The Commonwealth Shooting Championships in February were a complete disgrace. Medal ceremonies taking place hours behind schedule, people being called impromptu to hand over medals as the ones who were to perform the task were missing, wrong anthems being played, wrong flags at the medal ceremonies, every thing that could go wrong went wrong. In fact during one such ceremony an Indian shooter took off his own medal and gave it to the officials as suddenly a medal was short just before a ceremony. The media centre was a complete mess, media handlers were clueless, real time information missing. And the best part was the excuses. It's a test event, We will be ready in October. Then why are the same mistakes continuing in every test event?

There is a complete lack of coordination between every department, and there are many. Take the recent Asian badminton Championships. There were three different agencies involved just to take care of the media. Yes three. Confusion reigned supreme. First there was the Press Operations wing of the organizing committee. Then there was the PIB wing of the Government which dealt with actual media operations. Then there was a third body which sent out flattering media releases every day. To top it off the Badminton Association of India had its own PR agency. Wow. And despite all these departments it was a mess. Take my advice, get rid of the PIB lot. Don't let them come anywhere near the visiting foreign media. They are a complete joke without no knowledge of the sport .There was one OC staff stuttering around claiming to be Suresh Kalmadi's man, treating everyone with disdain. That he ran into a senior journalist who gave him a tongue lashing is another story.

OC DG VK Verma who is also the Badminton Association President got a mouthful from the media when he landed up at the stadium. Bathrooms were closed even while players were still playing, refreshments were not available, there was just one table for the media to write their reports on with a capacity of probably ten. So disgusted were senior members of the media that they ripped apart the shoddy arrangements in their articles. The press conference room had no AC, the flooring was incomplete. Imagine the plight of Saina Nehwal who came straight from her match to the PC room. And Saina didn't hold back here punches, making it clear that the facilities weren't in any way close to Melbourne. Why didn't they send that bit out in their Press Releases? More alarmingly the warm up area had so much dust that the players were complaining of allergy.

To top it all there is the Delhi police. Despite officers being on deputation at the OC there seems to be just no coordination at the ground level. Spectator, players and the media alike are treated with suspicion. World record holder Gagan Narang almost missed his shooting event as the police didn't allow him to enter the building for his event saying that he could not enter from there as there were orders not to let any one through. He had to change into his kit in full view of the spectators in the field of play. It's a different matter he won Gold. Common sense it seems is not in their dictionary. The Delhi Police should take a leaf out of Beijing's book. Security is never in your face. There were nearly 160 shooters at the shooting championships and more than 2000 policemen. Ace shooter Samresh Jung told me that he was more scared of an accidental bullet from the policemen than a terrorist attack. Even accredited media had to undergo a 3 tier search before entering the shooting range. What were they trying to prove is beyond my imagination.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. The accreditation process for the Asian Games in China which are a month after the Delhi Games got underway in January, the process for Delhi has just begun a few days back.

Volunteers are the backbone of any games. They are in fact the actual people who will ensure a successful games as they will be in direct contact with spectators, athletes and everyone else. The volunteers seem to be missing at the test events. In fact their training process I am told is still on.

The examples are many, enough to set the alarm bells off. But is anyone listening or even bothered?

One does feel for people like Suresh Kalmadi, Randhir Singh and Lalit Bhanot. Knowing them personally it is easy to see how many hours they are putting in trying to ensure everything is perfect. But step out of their office rooms and everything is all over the place. The classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing.

Co-ordination will be the key. At the moment there is none of it. Wake up people. These games are meant to make us proud, at the moment it feels like they will be nothing but an embarrassment.