Athletes set to arrive as things look up for Delhi

A view of the Commonwealth Games athletes village is pictured in New Delhi September 24, 2010.


NEW DELHI - New Delhi's beleaguered Commonwealth Games was set to welcome its first athletes on Friday after receiving a much-needed boost when Team England said it would definitely be participating.

The announcement came after the Commonwealth Games Federation signaled Delhi was succeeding in fixing the problems that has brought the event to the brink of disaster.

However, the news was not all good, as individual, high-profile athletes continued to announce their withdrawals.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a crisis meeting with senior ministers late on Thursday, and Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit oversaw the deployment of hundreds of staff to clean the athletes' village.

"There has been progress and there is more to do," Mike Hooper, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), told AFP, adding that there had been a "significant" influx of additional resources.

"We're concentrating on fixing the problems. My attitude is that the Games are on. We are working at the highest levels of government," he said.

A source in the CGF, which went public with complaints about the "filthy" and "seriously compromised" village on Tuesday, said that the mood was more upbeat and that the risk of cancellation was now small.

CGF president Michael Fennell was expected to inspect the village on Friday, when the first athletes' teams were expected to arrive.

Organizers were given a much-needed reason to celebrate when English officials announced they would definitely be taking part in the Games.

"Commonwealth Games England (CGE) and its 17 member sports today unanimously agreed that they will go to the Delhi Games," an organization statement said on Thursday.

Indian workers push a cart in front of a banner with the Commonwealth Games mascot in New Delhi, Sept 23, 2010.

"(We) are now seeing the improved levels of resourcing which are required to resolve the significant operational issues, but we will continue to monitor the situation daily to ensure the village and stadia are safe and fit for purpose."

Wales said it was sending its team as planned after receiving assurances that the facilities were up to scratch, and Scotland said it had been "heartened" by Dikshit's involvement with the clean-up.

"Things are looking much better," Team Scotland's representative Jon Doig said in Delhi.

Canada, which had delayed sending its athletes, also welcomed the intervention by the Indian government.

"What you are seeing is now, for the first time, the injection or projection of significant political leadership in the organisation of the Games," said the president of Commonwealth Games Canada, Andrew Pipe.

"Frankly, this is leadership that has been lacking," Pipe said.

Several world-class athletes have already pulled out of the Oct 3-14 event, which has damaged India's image and its plans to use the games as a platform to promote its economic emergence.

Members from England's team for the Commonwealth Games arrive at the airport in New Delhi September 24, 2010.

An external view shows the Games Village in New Delhi, India, in this undated handout photograph received in London on September 23, 2010.

A room is seen in the Games Village in New Delhi, India, in this undated handout photograph received in London on September 23, 2010.

Workers prepare their brooms before entering the Commonwealth Games athletes village in New Delhi September 24, 2010.

Indian police arrive at the Commonwealth Games athletes village in New Delhi September 24, 2010.

(China Daily)