The 2010 Commonwealth Games will adopt security methods similar to those used at last year’s Beijing Olympics, its chief said on Wednesday, allaying fears the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team could scupper the event. Speculation about the fate of the Games, due to be held in New Delhi has intensified since last year’s attacks in Mumbai and bloody ambush in Lahore which left six players and a coach wounded and eight people dead.
A number of Australian athletes — the top team in the games — have already expressed reservations about competing in India, with former swimming champion Dawn Fraser even calling for the event to be moved.
“We don’t want another Munich,” Fraser said, referring to the deadly attacks on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. “With an attack like that you wouldn’t be sending any team over to that region at all. You wouldn’t be sending any away in this climate.”
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) chiefs held a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, where security was elaborately discussed, organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi said.
“We’re working on security, it has always been an issue with us from the beginning,” he told Reuters on Wednesday.
“The Pune (2008 Commonwealth Youth Games) security was also an issue and everything went off well.
“We’re tying up things, with a lot of CCTV’s etc. We’re using very modern methods which were also used in Beijing (Olympics) last year.
“A lot of things are moving ahead as this is our number one concern,” he said. “We’re monitoring it on a day-to-day basis.”
The CGF security chief had also visited India and discussed security details with the Delhi police and interior ministry officials, he added.
