Venues Near Completion for Delhi Commonwealth Games

Although not all venues are complete for the scheduled 1st August handover, new facilities have been inaugurated for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.

The Delhi University Stadium rugby venue and the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Complex swimming venue, both to be used in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India, are among venues that have been completed.

The 10,000 metre2 rugby sevens stadium boasts 2,500 permanent seats and 7,500 temporary seats while the swimming venue, originally built in 1982 for the Asian Games, has been given a Rs 277 crore (US$58.5 million) overhaul.

The 5,000-seat complex is now the largest covered aquatic stadium in India, featuring Olympic-sized swimming and diving pools with a six-lane warm-up pool.

However, according to The Times of India, the Games' organising committee is set to receive several incomplete venues on 1st August, the deadline for the stadia to be handed over so that crucial overlay work can start. Construction agencies will hand over unfinished stadia with uncompleted landscaping, approach roads and clearing of debris, a Delhi Development Authority official stating "the finishing touches like landscaping and other work is going to continue after 1st August."

The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main venue for track-and-field events, and the weightlifting arena are among venues yet to be completed.

Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has been criticised by India's Sports Minister M. S. Gill for failing to secure participation of a number of star athletes at the upcoming Games.

Minister Gill's comments were made after British cyclist and Olympic champion Chris Hoy announced he was pulling out of the Games, following a similar decision from Jamaican sprinter and fellow Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt.

Minister Gill stated "if these stars fail to turn up, then all our efforts stand wasted. I again request (CGF President Mike) Fennell to bring these stars and not the thousands of officials.

"It's a moral duty on the part of players to come and participate. I want 'A' list of players and not 'B' or 'C'."

Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi highlighted that most of the participating countries will be sending their biggest delegations ever, adding "if one or two do not come, it does not matter. The Games will go on, the best of the world are coming and new champions will be created."

Image: Construction workers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

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