Scotland delays sending team for Commonwealth Games

EDINBURGH - A day after coming down hard on the unhygienic living conditions at the athletes’ Village, Commonwealth Games Scotland said it was delaying sending its contingent to Delhi over health and safety fears.

Commonwealth Games Scotland’s chef de mission Jon Doig said in a statement: “We will continue to monitor the situation before determining our next response.”

“At this point we are planning for full participation in the Games and sincerely hope that the outstanding issues can be resolved. However, we will not compromise on issues of health, safety and security,” he asserted.

“We will continue to work closely with the organisers to do everything possible to ensure that a satisfactory solution can be achieved for the benefit of all 71 competing countries.”

Besides Scotland, other participating countries like New Zealand, Canada, Australia and England are also having second thoughts over sending their teams for the Games Oct 3-14.

Some of the world’s top athletes have already pulled out amid widespread anger over India’s last-minute preparations for the Games. Buildings are unfinished, a bridge has collapsed near one of the stadiums, and the athlete’s village is said to be filthy, unhygienic and unliveable.

The Australian government has said it is confident India can sort out the problems in time, but admitted it was concerned about the safety of its athletes.

England’s participation has also been thrown into doubt with officials demanding guarantees about safety.

The shooting of two foreign tourists by suspected militants combined with a dengue fever epidemic, heavy monsoon rains, delayed construction, and traffic chaos have only added to the safety fears.