Scandal Adds to New Delhi’s Woes

The dire buildup to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi has deteriorated further, with the organizing committee urged to fire two senior officials amid a brewing corruption scandal just two months before the opening ceremony.

The Games’ organizing committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi had already ordered an emergency executive board meeting for this week when local media reported he’d been asked by India’s Sports Ministry to remove his director general T.S. Darbari and deputy director general Sanjay Mohindroo.

In a letter to Kalmadi, Sports Secretary Sindhushree Khullar asked Kalmadi to take action after the names of the two high-ranking organizing committee members figured in the investigations into “alleged irregularities” related to the Queen’s Baton Relay in London, the Press Trust of India reported Tuesday.

“Matters such as the UK payments and alleged customs inquiry against Darbari raise questions of probity and integrity,” Khullar wrote in the letter published by the PTI on Sunday . “They tarnish the image of the Games and adversely affect its credibility.”

The organizers have been under pressure for more than a year since it became apparent that delays in construction meant none of the venues would be finished before deadline.

With infrastructure projects around the city also well behind schedule, the Indian capital is involved in a race against time to be ready to host the Oct. 3-14 Games — the biggest sporting event in India since the 1982 Asian Games.

India’s Central Vigilance Commission has issued a report highlighting concerns regarding building practices and potential problems surrounding the certifying of the work.

PTI reported that the sports ministry had asked for Darbari’s removal from the organizing committee’s revenue and marketing units in February due to a customs matter, but Kalmadi had rejected the request.

On Saturday, Kalmadi faced a news conference to reject allegations of wrongdoing in the organizing committee’s payments to a small London-based company for services including car hire, portable toilets and road barriers during the launch of the torch relay in London last October.

“I am deeply pained by totally unfounded and baseless allegations,” Kalmadi said, adding that he planned to start defamation action against a television station over the accusations.

Kalmadi has reportedly called an emergency meeting for Thursday to discuss the corruption allegations at the behest of leading officials, including Indian Olympic Association secretary general Randhir Singh, who described the situation as “grave.”

The Commonwealth Games Federation has asked for clarification following the release of the negative report by the Indian government’s anticorruption watchdog and signs that some venues are already showing signs of construction faults.

“Certainly it is of concern and if there are immediate works that need to be done … they must do it in the next 60 days,” CGF chief executive Mike Hooper was quoted as saying.

But he stressed that the organizers should be “concentrating on delivering the Games.”

He later told Australian media that there were no contingency plans if a games venue was deemed unsafe.

“The answer is no at this stage,” Hooper told the Australian Associated Press. “I don’t want to pre-empt whatever report we may get because that’s speculation we don’t need.”