The first batch of athletes arrived in India for the Commonwealth Games today, opting to stay at a hotel instead of unfinished, filthy accommodation as the future of the showcase event still hung in the balance.
Twenty-two members of the English men's hockey team arrived at New Delhi's new $2 billion international airport, ushered in by dozens of armed police.
They will stay at a hotel until at least Saturday before moving to the athletes village which, along with a bridge collapse and a suspected militant attack on two foreign visitors, have thrown the games into crisis and proved a setback for India's efforts to showcase its modernity to the world.
Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennell, who flew to Delhi to inspect venues, gave an initial thumbs up for accommodation improvements but said work still needed to be done before the October 3rd start of the two-week long event.
"Considerable improvements have been made within the Village," Mr Fennell said in a statement before the inspection. "It is vital that all remedial work that has already started continues with the greatest urgency."
The New Zealand Olympic Committee, one of the most vocal critics of the games, planned to send a team to Delhi but warned "the clock was ticking" for organisers to get things in order.
One of India's powerful cabinet ministers complained about the organisation of the games, echoing a chorus of international criticism that has seen many top sports stars boycott the games due to shoddy construction, filth and fears of militant attacks.
"I think our international image has taken a beating and I hope we come out of it very quickly," environment minister Jairam Ramesh told Headlines Today in New York.
"We could have done without the embarrassment of this Commonwealth Games. It's embarrassing for our global image."
Australia's Olympic chief said the games should never have been awarded to India.
"I don't think it is a cultural thing. When you agree to host [the games] you are required to provide the basics in terms of health and hygiene for the athletes," Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates said.
Cyclist Greg Henderson became the first New Zealand athlete to withdraw over concerns about health and security. A dengue fever epidemic has hit Delhi and two tourists were shot and wounded by suspected militants in the city on Sunday.
Olympic cycling champion Geraint Thomas, two English riders and one Isle of Man rider also opted out of the games, due to start on October 3rd.
India had hoped to use the games to display its growing global economic and political influence, rivalling China.
Instead, they have become a major embarrassment for the world's largest democracy where infrastructure projects have remained slow paces and a drag on economic growth.
Reuters reporters have also seen children working at Games construction sites, despite it being illegal to employ minors.
The games, held every four years for mostly former British colonies, are estimated to have cost $6 billion. Asia's third largest economy, was awarded them in 2003 but did not begin proper preparations until two years ago.
The Delhi games may turn out to be the most compromised since a 1986 boycott of the games in Britain, when 32 nations stayed away because of then prime minister Margaret Thatcher's government's position over apartheid South Africa.
The Australian and New Zealand prime ministers said they understood if their athletes decided not to take part.
But England said it would send 551 athletes to the games because there were signs of improvement on the ground.
Kenya said it would send a 240-strong team after receiving security assurances from India, officials said, though several of its top athletes have withdrawn because of illness or fatigue.
Wales also gave its team the all-clear to go.
New Zealand, Canada and Scotland have delayed their arrivals.
Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Mike Hooper said he was hopeful the Games would get off the ground, given a new sense of urgency among Indian officials.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh reviewed preparations with senior ministers, an official in his office said.
Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the Delhi organising committee, said no team would pull out. "I can assure you that security is well in place. Now if some people have their own conception (of security), I can't help," he told reporters.
The federal government ordered the organising committee to hand over management of the Games Village, which will house 6,500 athletes. More than 1,000 workers were sent to clean apartments.
By contrast, preparations for November's Asian games in China, which held a successful Olympics in 2008, are on track, with organisers in Guangzhou handing over the athletes' village to the Asian games authorities for sign-off this week.
Many sporting events have hit trouble before opening, such as the 2004 Athens Olympics, and some of Delhi's infrastructure projects, including a new metro and airport, have won praise.
A portion of false ceiling in the weightlifting venue caved in on Wednesday, a day after the collapse of a footbridge by the main stadium, injuring 27 workers.
Reuters
