Wake-Up Call For Us: Kalmadi, Fennell's Letter Has CWG Organising Body In A Tizzy

Michael Fennell's letter seems to have had a huge impact on the Organising Committee (OC) of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, as it has left the body in a tizzy.

The OC, which came in for sharp criticism from the Commonwealth Games Federation president earlier this week, admitted on Wednesday that the letter was indeed a "wake-up call" and that it was planning to ensure that Fennell won't have much to complain about when he visits the Capital next month for the General Assembly.

"We respect his views. It was sort of a wake-up call. The Games will be held in time. We will clear things when he visits next month," said Suresh Kalmadi, OC chairman and president of the Indian Olympic Association. The underfire politician was quick to add that he did not think Fennell's desire to meet the Prime Minister had anything to do with his lack of trust in the OC. "I don't think so. As far as his desire to meet the PM is concerned, we have referred the matter to sports ministry," he said.

Kalmadi, flanked by his trusted lieutenants and senior members of the OC, stressed that the preparations for the Games was heading in right direction and there was "great coordination" between the stakeholders.

"All work is going on at good pace. We have a great team (OC) to do the work. Government of India is fully behind us. There's a great co-ordination between everybody - IOA, government as well as the opposition," he said in his first interaction with the media ever since Fennell's letter came out in the open. Kalmadi said India is on track to host a "great Games" and to push his point, he cited the example of the Afro Asian Games and the National Games, the events which India conducted "successfully" in the past.

If the OC sees these events as benchmark, then the CWG 2010 are surely going to run into rough weather. The Afro Asian Games were termed a jinxed event after repeated postponements before being held in Hyderabad in 2003.

Similarly, IOA has struggled in the past to host the National Games and in fact the next edition of the Games in Jharkhand has been postponed several times and is finally scheduled to be held in November this year. Besides, the last year's Youth Commonwealth Games in Pune, the latest event to be conducted by IOA, were an operational disaster.

Meanwhile, OC's vice chairman , Randhir Singh, said the criticism was well-accepted. "Individuals do not matter. The idea of decentralisation means to involve more and more people in the process to make the Games a great one," he said, asking for decentralisation in OC.