New Delhi/London, Dec 30 (Inditop.com) Indian and English Commonwealth Games’ officials trashed British media reports which said England could pull out of the 2010 Games in New Delhi over fears that their athletes would be targeted by Pakistani terrorists.
Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of 2010 Organising Committee (OC), denied all such reports.
“There is no truth in it. We have not received any official intimation to this effect, and in fact the British Foreign Office as also the statement from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has emphasised that it has not advised any of its teams not to compete in next year’s Commonwealth Games on security grounds,” said Kalmadi.
“The Security Commanders meeting was held at the Home Ministry recently and all Commonwealth Games Associations were satisfied with the security arrangements outlined for the Games,” he added.
In London, England’s general team manager Ann Hogbin also backed up Kalmadi’s claims saying that they had not received any security warnings on the Games.
“That is definitely not the case. Our current and strong intention is to field a team for the Games in Delhi next year,” Hogbin said in a statement. “Of course, we have a duty of care to the athletes and other team members which we take very seriously. Despite having been given extensive briefings from relevant authorities we have not received any indication that we should not participate in the Games.”
The Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday that English security officials feared their athletes’ safety could not be guaranteed at present. England was planning to send almost 100 athletes to the Games in preparation for the 2012 Olympics in London.
The daily reported that Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, visited New Delhi earlier this month to inspect the Games sites and was said to have voiced “serious concerns” about the security arrangements.
“If you are an English athlete there is no way you are going to want to risk your life competing at the Games. We currently cannot see any way that England will be able to send a team to Delhi next year,” the daily quoted an unnamed source as saying.
The source also said that police and security advisers fear that the English team will be “targeted by Pakistani terrorists”.
Caroline Searle, a spokesman for the English Commonwealth Games, said that the body is continuing to monitor the security situation.
“We take guidance from the Metropolitan Police. We can’t make a judgment until nearer the time. We have had briefings on security and we will decide when we know what the terror threat is going to be like,” Searle was quoted as saying by the daily.
The Commonwealth Games, featuring 71 nations and territories, are expected to be the biggest multi-sport event to be staged in India since the Asian Games in 1982.
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