Usain Bolt likely to body swerve Delhi Games

USAIN Bolt is likely to miss this year's Commonwealth Games in Delhi, according to the sprinter's manager.
Ricky Simms was yesterday quoted as saying the Jamaican – the Olympic and world champion over 100 and 200 metres and the 4x100m relay – could not consider the October event a priority.

"It's now looking unlikely Usain will be going to the Commonwealth Games. His priorities have to lie elsewhere," said Simms.

"First and foremost is his four-year plan leading up to the next Olympics, which is exactly what he did prior to Beijing in 2008.

"This year is all about the Diamond League and a continuation of his preparation for 2012.

The timing of the Commonwealth Games is the issue here. By the start of October, Usain will have needed to have rested and then began his pre-season which is massively important."

Facing crunch, Delhi Police seek more IPS officers

Faced with a shortage of officers, especially with the Commonwealth Games round the corner, Delhi Police have written to the Union Home Ministry to depute more IPS officers to the force.

The request is under consideration by the Ministry which shares Delhi Police chief Y S Dadwal’s “concern” regarding shortage of Indian Police Services (IPS) officers here, sources said. They said Delhi Police made the request to the Ministry considering the upcoming mega sport event -- Commonwealth Games -- and the complexity in dealing with law and order in the city. Senior IPS officers working on deputation with central security agencies like Intelligence Bureau and Central Bureau of Investigation are also likely to be called back if the proposal gets the nod from the Ministry, they said. Mr. Dadwal has asked the Ministry to give approval to its request and post maximum IPS officers of AGMU (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories) cadre for 45 days during the Commonwealth Games scheduled here between October 3 and October 14.

Currently, about 50 IPS officers from the level of Assistant Commissioners of Police to Special Commissioners of Police are working with different departments of Delhi Police. The total cadre strength in Delhi includes 21 posts at the level of Superintendent of Police (SP), 10 Deputy Inspector General (DIG), 14 Inspector General (IG), three Additional Director General (ADG) and two Director General (DG) of police level.

However, the sanctioned strength are almost filled up in the Capital. “There is shortage of IPS officers to manage law and order situation here. This may lead to some sort of mismanagement in maintaining law and order related duties,” the sources said.

Mr. Dadwal has expressed his concern about insufficient number of such police officers especially when the country is organising its maiden and biggest sporting event. When contacted, a senior Home Ministry official said the letter has been received and is under consideration.

World Cup offers chance to study Delhi security plans

Nations worried about terrorism at this year’s Commonwealth Games will be watching the men’s hockey World Cup finals

Nations that are increasingly jittery about terrorism threats at this year’s Commonwealth Games will be scrutinising security risks at the men’s World Cup finals in Delhi.

The event, which start on February 28 and continues for a fortnight, takes place at the 23,000-seat Dhyan Chand Stadium, close to the iconic India Gate national monument.

As countries become more nervous about sending teams to the Commonwealth Games, which are due to be staged in the Indian capital in October, Sally Munday, chief executive of England Hockey, said that the squad may serve as guinea pigs.

“The security and safety of our players comes first and we have been in close consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the international governing body,” Munday said. “At the moment, all the advice we have is that it is appropriate to go and we want our players to have the experience of playing in front of huge crowds in a country where hockey is massive. India can’t afford to let anything go wrong.”

Munday added that officials from England Hockey had received a full briefing from the FIH, the world governing body, at the end of last year and that David Faulkner, the performance director, had travelled with senior officers from the Metropolitan Police in October to conduct a full reconnaissance. The FIH has agreed to fully accredit several officers from London, who will accompany the team at all times.

“They are a fantastic resource,” Munday said. “We want to make sure we do everything in our power to ensure the safety of our players and officials.”

After reports quoting a government official as stating that there is “virtually no chance” that England would send a team to the Commonwealth Games, it has emerged the Government will be monitoring events in Delhi before making a decision.

Bolt set to skip CWG 2010, says agent

The Delhi Commonwealth Games doesn’t feature in Usain Bolt’s list of priorities and the fastest man on earth is set to skip the October event, his agent said.

The Olympic and world champion in 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay would be busy preparing for the 2011 World Athletics Championships and won’t have the time for Commonwealth Games scheduled in October, his manager Ricky Simms told a British newspaper.

“It’s now looking unlikely Usain will be going to the New Delhi. His priorities have to lie elsewhere. First and foremost is his four-year plan leading up to the next Olympics, which is exactly what he did prior to Beijing in 2008,” Simms said.

“It’s started well enough with what he achieved at last summer’s Berlin World Championships, but this year is all about the Diamond League and a continuation of his preparation for 2012. He also views the World Championships in 2011 and 2013 as crucially important,” he added, elaborating on Bolt’s schedule this year.

Simms said Bolt would need to rest around the time Games are held and it would be too exhausting to run in Delhi.

“The timing of the Commonwealth Games is the issue here. By the start of October, Usain will have needed to have rested and then began his pre-season which, as every athlete knows, is massively important,” Simms explained.

“If you don’t get your pre-season right, then you won’t get the following summer right. If Usain ran in Delhi, it would not only require him to stay at his best from pretty much May through to October, but then delay his pre-season until Christmas or the new year,” he said. (PTI)

Schoolkids to the rescue during Games

For 10 days in February, 1,000 children from Delhi government schools will monitor the number of vehicles around Commonwealth Games venues and the data they collect will prove crucial in managing air quality during the October 3-14 event.

The Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, which has developed technology for air quality management during the Games, will give the children a gadget, Click Counter, to collect data.

“For air quality management, we need to know the number of vehicles that use the roads around the venues on an average basis daily. The data collected by children will help develop a basic emissions inventory,” Gufran Beig, a scientist with IITM’s System of Air Pollution Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), told IANS.

Cautious Australia leave Delhi decision to players

The Australian government has ruled out ordering a boycott of this year’s Commonwealth Games in India despite fresh warnings from security experts over the safety of visiting athletes.
Australia’s acting foreign minister Simon Crean said the government was monitoring security arrangements in New Delhi but the final decision about participating in the Games would be left to competitors and sporting bodies.

“In the end, it is not a decision for the government whether the team actually goes,” Crean told reporters on Sunday.

“It is a decision for the athletes. It is also a decision for the sporting bodies.”

“At this stage, we continue to say there is no reason for concern. That is a view that has been expressed by the sporting bodies and by a number of athletes.”
Crean’s comments followed a warning in Australian media about security arrangements for the Commonwealth Games.

The Sunday Telegraph quoted Lloyd Bromfield, described by the newspaper as an international security consultant who had worked at the past three Olympics and had been hired for London in 2012, as saying New Delhi represented a real risk to visiting athletes.

“The worst-case scenario could be a major bombing,” he told the newspaper.

“It could be a Mumbai-style (attack), where you’ve got a team of Osamas running around with hand grenades and small arms. It could be anything.”

Bromfield’s warning came a week after another Australian security expert urged the government to provide extra protection for athletes because of the threat of an attack.

A London newspaper reported late last year that England were planning to pull out of the Games because of fears of an attack but English officials said the reports were not true.
Indian officials have repeatedly given assurances about their promise to provide tight security for the Games, to be held from Oct. 3-14.

Commonwealth Games boycott to rest with athletes

THE Rudd government has singled out athletes' safety at this year's Delhi Commonwealth Games as a top priority.

"At this stage there is no reason for concern, but we will continue to apply the strictest endeavours to ensure their safety," Acting Foreign Minister Simon Crean said yesterday.

But Mr Crean stopped short of calling on Australia to boycott the Games in October.

"The decision on whether to attend the games remained with the individual athletes. It isn't a decision for the government as to whether the team actually goes," he said.

Australian-born Sri Lanka cricket coach Trevor Bayliss backed calls by former England batsman Chris Broad for tighter security at all major sporting events in hot spots on the subcontinent.

It follows the shooting of three Togo soccer officials at the African Nations Cup tournament.

Bayliss, like Broad, almost lost his life in a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore last March.

"Watching news footage of the Togo team being shot at brought back a lot of bad memories," Bayliss said.

"But how much security is too much security. I know just how those Togo soccer players are feeling right now."

Australian Commonwealth Games Association chief executive Perry Crosswhite said sport had been seen as a soft target for terrorist groups since the attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Opposition sports spokesman Steve Ciobo said no gold medal was worth risking athletes' lives.

"The Rudd government must provide an assurance to Australian athletes and their familieis they will be completely safe," he said.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said if there were safety concerns, the government would need to immediately review security arrangements.

Ms Bishop said attacks on Indian students in Melbourne had resulted in a "perception problem" for Australia in India.

Hewitt faced with Games schedule clash

IF Australia's No 1 tennis player Lleyton Hewitt skips this year's Commonwealth Games in Delhi, it is more likely to be because of a scheduling conflict than because of security fears, he said yesterday.

Hewitt said he had yet to consider whether Delhi would be a safe place for him to play in October.

"Right at the moment, I haven't given it any thought, to tell you the truth," he said.

"I didn't know tennis was in the Commonwealth Games until a month ago. But I have contractual commitments to play in Asia at that time. I think it coincides with the Tokyo tournament so it's a tough one."

Hewitt has been sensitive to security risks in the past, expressing concerns about the Davis Cup tie in Chennai last year that sparked the withdrawal of the Australian team.

He said he remained mindful of security issues but would not automatically rule out Delhi, based on his Davis Cup experience.

India Commonwealth Games village fire kills one

One person has been killed and 12 hurt in a fire at an athletes' village being built for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Indian media reports say.

The fire reportedly broke out in the residential quarters of on-site construction workers.

It comes two weeks after a rugby stadium under construction caught fire.

The authorities are under pressure to finish construction work in major sports venues, amid criticism that some work has fallen behind schedule.

The Games are due to take place in October this year.

Delhi has been undertaking major infrastructure work, including the installation of new metro lines, in preparation for the event.

The Indian Express newspaper said the blaze at the athletes' village near Akshardham Temple had broken out after some of the labourers lit a fire to make tea.

The blaze spread quickly because of foam used to insulate the roofs of the workers' temporary quarters and took almost two hours to put out, the paper reported.

No-one was hurt in the fire at the rugby stadium on 24 December, which reportedly took two hours to extinguish.