We've lost Commonwealth Games home advantage: Malhotra

NEW DELHI: Thanks to the inordinate delays in readying the stadiums for next year's Commonwealth Games, India has allowed its home advantage slip through fingers, alleged senior vice president of the Indian Olympic Association Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Malhotra lashed out at the Delhi government and the Centre for repeatedly pushing the deadline and said the repeated dragging of heel would hurt India's prospect when the Games takes place next year.

"We have lost the precious home advantage. The deadline last time was December this year but it has again been pushed back to March next year. There is simply not enough time for testing events," Malhotra said.

"In May-June, it will be too hot in Delhi and you have monsoon in June-July," explained the BJP leader.

"I don't understand what they mean when they say infrastructure would be ready in time. What do they mean by 'in time'? Does it mean a day before the opening ceremony?" he asked.

Malhotra also lashed out at the frequent inspection of venues by ministers, which he felt impedes work.

"The same people who are responsible for criminal negligence of things are trying to become hero. Every time they visit the venues for cheap publicity, they bring construction work to a halt. They should rather apologise for their acts of omission and commission and not hamper construction work," he said.

Malhotra, also president of the Archery Association of India, feared that the race against time might prompt the organisers to compromise on quality of infrastructure.

"I'm afraid that since we are running out of time, the contractors might put together a sub-standard piece of architecture. I remember everyone praising how we held the 1982 Asian Games. But within a month of the event, roof started coming off Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium while the sewage system at Nehru Stadium completely collapsed," Malhotra said.

The politician-cum-sports administrator has also written a letter to Sports Minister M S Gill, warning him that procurement of equipments for the Games may lead to large-scale corruption.

"The Sports Authority of India should avoid touts and middlemen and purchase all equipments directly from the manufacturers by floating global tenders. Besides, Comptroller and Auditor General should carry out expenditure audit as well as performance audit to ensure there is no trace of corruption in the whole process," Malhotra said.