2010 Commonwealth Games

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XIX Commonwealth Games
२०१० राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल

Logo of 2010 Commonwealth Games

Host city New Delhi, India
Motto Come out and play
Nations
71 Commonwealth Teams
participating
Athletes
6,081
participating
Events 272 events in 21 disciplines[1]
Opening ceremony 3 October
Closing ceremony 14 October
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and
Officially opened by
Pratibha Patil, President of India
Athlete's Oath Abhinav Bindra
Queen's Baton Final
Sushil Kumar
Runner
Main Stadium Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
Website cwgdelhi2010.org

2010 Commonwealth Games

 Venues
 Theme song
 Concerns and controversies
 Queen's Baton Relay
 Opening ceremony
 Participating nations
 Medal table (medalists)
 Event calendar
 Closing ceremony

The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games, were
held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 6,081 athletes from 71
Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events. It was the
largest international multi-sport event to be staged in Delhi and India, eclipsing the Asian Games
in 1951 and 1982.

The opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main
stadium of the event. It was the first time that the Commonwealth Games were held in India and
the second time it was held in Asia after Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998. The official mascot of
the Games was Shera and the official song of the Games, "Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto", was composed
by celebrated Indian musician A.R. Rahman.The commonwealth games Delhi 2010 were the
most expensive gaming event ever.The budget reached 157,731,000,000$. Which includes
Flyover construction,Roads construction,New Airport Terminal construction,Stadiums
construction.[2]

Initially, several concerns and controversies surfaced before the start of the Games. Despite these
concerns, all member nations of the Commonwealth of Nations participated in the event, except
Fiji, which is suspended from the Commonwealth, and Tokelau, which didn't send a team. A
widely-praised opening ceremony helped improve the image of the Games.[3][4] The concerns
raised during the buildup to the Games proved largely unfounded as most events progressed
smoothly. The final medal tally was led by Australia. The host nation India gave its strongest
performance yet to emerge second, while England placed third. The day after the conclusion of
the Games, the Indian Government announced the formation of a special investigation committee
to probe the allegations of corruption and mismanagement that had marred the buildup to the
Games.[5][6]

Contents
[hide]

 1 Bidding
 2 Organisation
o 2.1 Organising committee
o 2.2 Costs
o 2.3 Transport
o 2.4 Green Games
o 2.5 Other preparation
 3 Symbols
o 3.1 Mascot
o 3.2 Official song
 4 Queen's Baton relay
 5 Calendar
 6 Opening ceremony
 7 Sports
o 7.1 Medal table
 8 Terrorist attack plans
 9 Closing ceremony
 10 Participating nations
 11 Venues
 12 Concerns and controversies
o 12.1 Formation of dedicated investigation committee
 13 Long-term impact
 14 See also
 15 References
 16 External links

Bidding
The two principal bids for the 2010 Commonwealth Games were from Delhi, India and
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. A ballot of members was held in November 2003 at the
Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Delhi bid won
by a margin of 46 votes to 22, confirming India's first successful bid for the Games. The bid was
Canada's attempt to hold the games for the fifth time.[7][8][9] India's bid motto was New Frontiers
and Friendships.[10]

India shifted the balance in its favour in the second round of voting with a promise that it would
provide US$100,000 to each participating country, along with air tickets, boarding, lodging and
transport.[11] The successful 2003 Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad was also seen as having
showed India has the resources, infrastructure and technical know-how to stage a big sporting
event. India also thanked Latif Butt, former vice president of the Olympic Council of Asia, for
his support in the winning bid, by saying, "You played a vital role in the Commonwealth Games
2010 being allotted to India. Such actions are worthy of emulation by all concerned in Pakistan
and India. I have no doubt that if both sides continue to live by such ideals, one day, sooner than
later our generations to come will reap the benefits of and be grateful to those making such
contributions. You would certainly be such person."[10] The Indian government stated that it
would underwrite the total cost of the Games.[12]

Organisation
This section may need to be updated. Please update this section to reflect recent events
or newly available information, and remove this template when finished. Please see the
talk page for more information. (October 2010)

Organising committee

The organisation was beset by delays: in January 2010, the Indian Olympic Association vice-
chairman Raja Randhir Singh expressed concern that Delhi was not up to speed in forming and
organising its games committee and, following a 2009 Indian Government report showing two
thirds of venues were behind schedule, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike
Fennell stated that the slow progress of preparations represented a serious risk to the event.[13]
Singh called for a revamp of the games' organising committees:[14] Jarnail Singh, a former
Secretary of the Government of India, was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and Indian
Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi was appointed as head of the committee.[15] In
spite of delays and the corruption cases levied on the organisors, commentators stated that they
were confident that India will successfully host the games and do so on time.[16][17]

At the launch of the Queen’s Baton Relay in October 2009, the Business Club of India (BCI) was
formed through the partnership of the organising committee, the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The
BCI was formed to both market the Games and promote Indian business interests internationally.
[18]

Costs

Terminal 3, Indira Gandhi International Airport

The initial total budget estimated by Indian Olympic Association in 2003 for hosting the Games
was 16.2 billion (US$364.5 million) but escalated official total budget estimation in 2010
became 115 bn ($2.6 B), which excludes non-sports-related infrastructure development in the
city such as airports, city beautification and roads.[19] Business Today magazine estimated that
the Games cost 300 bn ($6.8 bn).[20] The 2010 Commonwealth Games are the most expensive
Gaming event ever .[21]

Transport

Further information: Transport in Delhi

Road Transport, Delhi

Delhi a four-lane flyway, 2.2 km stretch from Lodhi Road to trans-Yamuna, linking the Games
Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadiumwas constructed which reduced the travelling time
between the village and the Stadium to six minutes.

Delhi Metro

Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway, Delhi

In response to concerns over the large number of trains that pass by the Delhi metropolitan
region daily, construction of road under-bridges and over-bridges along railway lines have been
completed. To expand road infrastructure, flyovers, cloverleaf flyovers, and bridges were built to
improve links for the Games and city in general. Road-widening projects have begun with an
emphasis being placed on expanding national highways. To improve traffic flow on existing
roads, plans are underway to make both the inner and outer Ring roads signal free.

To support its commitment to mass transport, nine corridors have been identified and are being
constructed as High Capacity Bus Systems (for example, one from Ambedkar Nagar to Red
Fort). Six of these corridors are expected to be operational in 2010. Additionally, The Delhi
Metro had been expanded to accommodate more people and boost the use of public transport
during the 2010 games. The metro has extended to Gurgaon and the Noida area. For this large
increase in the size of the network, Delhi Metro had deployed 14 tunnel boring machines.[22]

Indira Gandhi International Airport is being modernised, expanded, and upgraded. Costing
nearly $1.95 billion, Terminal 3 has improved airport passenger capacity to more than 37 million
passengers a year by 2010. A new runway has been constructed, allowing for more than 75
flights an hour. At more than 4400 metres long, it will be one of Asia's longest.

The airport has been connected to the city via a six-lane expressway (Delhi–Gurgaon
Expressway) and the $580 million Delhi Airport Metro Express line.[23]

Green Games

Logo for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games being recognised as the first ever "Green
Commonwealth Games"

The organisers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations
Environment Programme to show the intention to host a "sustainable games" and to take the
environment into consideration when constructing and renovating venues. Thyagaraj Stadium is
intended to be a key example of environmentally considered construction.
In opposition to this intention, a number of environmental controversies arose and the adverse
ecological impact of various aspects of the games have been protested by city residents.[24][25]
City residents filed a public interest petition to the Supreme Court of India against the felling of
'heritage' trees in the Siri Fort area to make way for Games facilities. The court appointed
architect Charles Correa to assess the impact and he severely criticised the designs on ecological
grounds.[26] In spite of this, in April 2009 the Supreme Court allowed the construction on the
grounds that "much time had been lost" and "the damage already caused to the environment
could not be undone".[27][28]

The Commonwealth Games village, located on the flood plains of the Yamuna, has also been the
subject of controversies about the flouting of ecological norms.[29] After a prolonged legal battle
between city residents and the state, construction was permitted to continue on the basis of an
order of the Supreme Court of India in July 2009, which held that the government had satisfied
the requirements of "due process of the law" by issuing public notice of its intention to begin
construction work in September 1999 (a date four years prior to the acceptance of Delhi's bid for
the games).[30]

Other preparation

In preparation for an influx of English-speaking tourists for the Games, the Delhi government is
implementing a program to teach English, and the necessary skills for serving tourists, to key
workers—such as cab drivers, security workers, waiters, porters, and service staff. In the two
years prior to the Games 2,000 drivers were taught English. The program aims to teach 1,000
people English per month in the hope of reaching all key workers by March 2010. In addition to
Delhi, the Indian Government plans to expand the program to teach people in local tourist
destinations in other parts of India.[31]

To prepare for the energy-usage spike during the Games and to end chronic power cuts in Delhi,
the government is undertaking a large power-production initiative to increase power production
to 7,000 MW (from the current 4,500 MW). To achieve this goal, the government plans to
streamline the power distribution process, direct additional energy to Delhi, and construct new
power plants. In fact, the government has promised that by the end of 2010, Delhi will have a
surplus of power.[32]

In addition to physical preparation, India will offer free accommodation for all athletes at the
Games Village, as well as free transport and other benefits, such as a free trip to the famed Taj
Mahal and a reserved lane for participants on selected highways.[33] The Games Village will
house over 8,000 athletes and officials for the Games. Indian states will train state police forces
to handle tourist-related issues and deploy them prior to the Games. A large-scale construction
and "beautification" project has resulted in the demolition of hundreds of homes and the
displacement of city dwellers—at least 100,000 of New Delhi’s 160,000 homeless people have
removed from shelters, some of which have been demolished.[34][35] Bamboo screens have been
erected around city slums to separate visitors from the sights of the slums,[36] a practice which
human rights campaigners have deemed dishonest and immoral.[37]
The Delhi High Court is set to implement a series of "mobile courts" to be dispatched throughout
Delhi to relocate migrant beggars from Delhi streets. The mobile courts would consider each
beggar on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the beggar should be sent back to his/her
state of residence, or be permitted to remain in government-shelters.[38]

Symbols
Mascot

The official mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is Shera, an anthropomorphised tiger.[39]
His name comes from "Sher", a hindi word meaning tiger (Hindi "Bagh" means tiger. However,
Sher is colloquially used for both lion and tiger). The logo and the look for the games were
designed by Idiom Design and Consulting.There is one song for Shera also composed by the
popular composer of INDIA the song contains initiative "Shera Shera" [40]

The mascot Shera is visiting many schools across Delhi to create enthusiasm and interest for the
Commonwealth Games being held .

Official song

Main article: Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto

The official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games "Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto" was composed and
performed by the Indian musician A. R. Rahman.[41] The song's title is based on the slogan of the
games, "Come out and play". The song is penned by Mehboob in Hindi with a sprinkling of
English words. It was released on 28 August 2010. The music video, directed by Bharath Bala
was released on 23 September and featured a shorter version of the song. A. R. Rahman also
gave a live concert for the theme song in Gurgaon , Haryana which was previewed on various
news channels . The official video of the song has been released on youtube .

Queen's Baton relay

The Queen's Baton Relay began when the baton, which contains Queen Elizabeth II's message to
the athletes, left Buckingham Palace on 29 October 2009. The baton arrived at the 2010 Games
opening ceremony on 3 October 2010, after visiting the other 54 nations of the Commonwealth
and travelling throughout India, reaching millions of people to join in the celebrations for the
Games.The baton arrived in India on 25 June 2010 through the Wagah Border crossing from
Pakistan.[42]

The baton was designed by Michael Foley, a graduate of the National Institute of Design.[43] It is
a triangular section of aluminium twisted into a helix shape and then coated with coloured soils
collected from all the regions of India. The coloured soils are a first for the styling of a Queen's
Baton. A jewel-encrusted box was used to house the Queen's message, which was laser-engraved
onto a miniature 18 carat gold leaf—representative of the ancient Indian 'patras. The Queen's
baton is ergonomically contoured for ease of use. It is 664 millimetres (26.1 in) high,
34 millimetres (1.3 in) wide at the base, and 86 millimetres (3.4 in) wide at the top and weighs
1,900 grams (67 oz).

The Queen's baton has a number of technological features including:

 The ability to capture images and sound

 Global positioning system (GPS) technology so the baton's location can be tracked
 Embedded light emitting diodes (LEDs) which will change into the colours of a country’s
flag whilst in that country
 A text messaging capability so that people can send messages of congratulations and
encouragement to the baton bearers throughout the relay

Calendar
The official calendar for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is as follows.[44] Click on the blue dots
in the table to read about the individual events.

   ●    Opening ceremony         Event competitions    ●    Event finals    ●    Closing ceremony

Gold
October   3      4     5     6     7     8     9     10     11     12     13     14   Venue
Medals

Jawaharlal
Ceremonies ● ●
Nehru Stadium

●● ●● ●●
● ●● ●● ●
●● ●● SPM
●● ● ●● ●● ●● ●●
Aquatics ● ● ●● ●● 56 Swimming
● ●● ●● ● ● ●
●● ●● Pool Complex
●● ●● ●● ●●
● ● ●

Yamuna Sports
Archery ●● ●● ●● ●● 8
Complex

●● ●●
●● ●● ●●
●● ● ●
● ● ● Jawaharlal
● ●● ●●
Athletics ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● 52 Nehru Stadium
●● ● ●
● ● ● & India Gate
●● ●● ●●
●● ●● ●
● ●

●●
Siri Fort Sports
Badminton ● ● 6
Complex
●●
 ●●
●●
●● Talkatora
Boxing 10
● Stadium
●●
●

I. G. Indoor
●● ●● ●● ●● Stadium
Cycling ●● ●● 18
● ●● ●● ● Complex &
India Gate

●● ●● I. G. Indoor
●●
Gymnastics ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● 20 Stadium
●●
●● ●● Complex

Maj. Dhyan
Hockey ● ● 2 Chand National
Stadium

Jawaharlal
Lawn bowls ●● ●● ●● 6
Nehru Stadium

Thyagaraj
Netball ● 1 Sports
Complex

Delhi
Rugby sevens ● 1 University
Stadium

●●
●● Dr. Karni
●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●
Shooting ● ●● 36 Singh Shooting
●● ●● ●● ●● ● ●● ●●
●● Range
●

●● Siri Fort Sports

Squash ●● 5
● Complex

●● Yamuna Sports
Table tennis ● ● ● ●● 8
● Complex

R.K. Khanna
●●
Tennis ●● 5 Tennis
●
Complex

Weightlifting ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ● ●● 17 Jawaharlal
 Nehru Stadium

I. G. Indoor
●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●●
Wrestling 21 Stadium
● ●● ●● ● ● ●●
Complex

Total Gold Total Gold

8 18 28 35 43 31 29 14 21 29 16 272
Medals Medals

Gold
October 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Venue
Medals

Opening ceremony
Main article: 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru
Stadium, the main stadium of the event, in New Delhi, India. It began at 7:00 PM (IST) on 3
October 2010 ending at 11:00 PM (IST) displaying India's varied culture in a plethora of cultural
showcases. It was watched live by a global audience of around three billion.[45]

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (representing Queen Elizabeth II as Head of the

Commonwealth) and President of India Pratibha Patil officially declared the Games open.[46]
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the host nation, India, attended the opening ceremony as
well.

A total of three heads of state from outside India attended the opening ceremony; two from
Commonwealth nations and one from a non-Commonwealth nation. The three head of states are
Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives, Marcus Stephen, President of Nauru and a
multiple Commonwealth gold medallist, and Prince Albert II of Monaco, whose country Monaco
is not a member of the Commonwealth.[47] As well, Sir Anand Satyanand, the Governor General
of New Zealand (the first of Indian descent), attended the ceremony.[48]

Sports
There were events in 21 disciplines across 17 sports for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
  Aquatics (details)  Cycling (details)  Netball (1) (details)
o Diving o Road  Rugby sevens (1)
o Swimming o Track (details)
o Synchronised  Gymnastics (details)  Shooting (44) (details)
swimming o Artistic  Squash (5) (details)
 Archery (8) (details) gymnastics  Table tennis (7)
 Athletics (46) (details) o Rhythmic (details)
 Badminton (6) gymnastics  Tennis (5) (details)
(details)  Hockey (2) (details)  Weightlifting (15)
 Boxing (11) (details)  Lawn bowls (6) (details)
(details)  Wrestling (21)
(details)

Kabaddi was a demonstration sport at the Games.[49]

Triathlon was excluded from the games as there was no suitable location for the swimming stage.
[citation needed]
The organisers have also removed basketball, but included archery, tennis and
wrestling. Cricket, although in strong demand, did not make a come-back as the Board of
Control for Cricket in India were not keen on a Twenty20 tournament, and the organisers did not
want a one day tournament.[50]

Medal table

Only the top ten nations by medal rank are shown in this medal table. Nations are ranked first by
count of gold medals, then silver medals, then bronze medals. For the full medal table, see the
main article.

     Host nation India

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total

1  Australia 74 55 48 177
2  India 38 27 36 101
3  England 37 60 46 143
4  Canada 26 17 33 76
5  South Africa 12 11 10 33
6  Kenya 12 11 9 32
7  Malaysia 12 10 14 36
8  Singapore 11 11 9 31
9  Nigeria 11 8 14 33
10  Scotland 9 10 7 26
Total 272 274 282 828[51]
Terrorist attack plans
On October 10, 2010, the Indian government received detailed reports from the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) that Lashkar-e-Taiba and Al Qaida were planning to attack a luxury
hotel in Delhi and a games venue on October 12 or 13. In response, the Federal Government
increased security at Delhi's top eight hotels and 80 trucks of sand were checked "shovel by
shovel" for hidden bombs and grenades.[52]

Closing ceremony
This section requires expansion.

The games closed on 14 October in a colourful and appreciated closing ceremony featuring both
Indian and Scottish performers.[53][54][55] The Commonwealth Games flag was handed over to
representatives of Glasgow, Scotland, which will host the XX Commonwealth Games in 2014.
At the closing ceremony, the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation declared that
Delhi had hosted a "truly exceptional Games".[56]

Participating nations
There were 71 participating nations at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. As Fiji was suspended
from the Commonwealth, it was banned from participating in the Games.[57] Rwanda fielded a
team for the games for the first time after becoming a Commonwealth member in 2009.[58]
Numbers of athletes are shown in brackets. Tokelau was initially expected to compete, but did
not do so.[59]

  Anguilla   Falkland   Mauritius (55)[94]   Scotland

(12)[60] Islands (15)[78]   Montserrat (5)[95] (191) [112]
  Antigua   Gambia   Mozambique (10)   Seychelle
and Barbuda (17)[79] [96]
s (26)[113]
(17)[61]   Ghana (64)   Namibia (30) [97]   Sierra
  Australia [80]
  Nauru (6)[98] Leone (31)[114]
(377) [62]   Gibraltar   New Zealand   Singapore
  Bahamas (15)[81] (192)[99] (68) [115]
(24) [63]   Grenada   Nigeria (101) [100]   Solomon
  Banglades (10)[82]   Niue (24)[101] Islands (12)
h (70) [64]   Guernsey   Norfolk Island
[116]

  Barbados (43) [83] (22)[102]   South

(39)[65]   Guyana   Northern Ireland Africa (113)
  Belize (9) (34)[84] (80)[103]
[117]

[66]
  India (495)   Pakistan (54)[104]   Sri Lanka
  Bermuda   Isle of Man   Papua New (94)[118]
(14) [67] (33)[83] Guinea (79)[105]   Swaziland
  Botswana   Jamaica   Rwanda (22) [106] (11)[119]
 (49)[68] (48)[85]   Saint Helena (4)   Tanzania
  British   Jersey (33) [107]
(40)[120]
Virgin Islands [86]
  Saint Kitts and   Tonga
(2)[69]   Kenya Nevis (7)[108] (22)[121]
  Brunei (136)[87]   Saint Lucia (13)   Trinidad
(12)[70]   Kiribati(17 [109]
and Tobago
  Cameroon ) [88]
  Saint Vincent and (82) [122]
(20)[71]   Lesotho the Grenadines(14)[110]   Turks and
  Canada (10)[89]   Samoa (53)[111] Caicos
(251)[72]   Malawi Islands (8)[123]
  Cayman (43)[90]   Tuvalu
Islands (17)[73]   Malaysia (3)[124]
  Cook (203)[91]   Uganda
Islands (31)[74]   Maldives (65) [125]
  Cyprus (28) [92]   Vanuatu
(56)[75]   Malta (22) (14)[126]
  Dominica [93]
  Wales
(15)[76] (175) [83]
  England   Zambia
(365) [77] (22)[127]

Nations that competed at the Games

Venues
Main article: Venues of the 2010 Commonwealth Games
The main venue of the Games, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Events took place at 12 competition venues. A total of 20 training venues were used in the
Games. Of these 20, one was used for archery; three for aquatics; two for lawn bowls; two for
netball; eight for rugby sevens, including seven venues within Delhi University; two for
shooting; one for squash; two for table tennis; one for weightlifting, three for wrestling and two
for tennis.[128]

The Commonwealth Games Village provided accommodation and training for athletes of the
Games, and was opened from 23 September to 18 October 2010. It is located along the east bank
of the River Yamuna, in proximity to competition and training venues as well as city landmarks,
and is spread over an area of 63.5 hectares (157 acres). Comprising five main zones—the
Residential Zone, the International Zone, the Training Area, the Main Dining and the
Operational Zone—the Games Village, which is a non-smoking zone,[129] is universally
accessible particularly to accommodate para-sport athletes.[130]

There were three main non-competition venues in the Games, besides the Commonwealth
Games Village (see above); namely the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising
Committee Headquarters (OC CWG Delhi 2010), the Main Media Centre, and the Games Family
Hotel, Hotel Ashok.

Concerns and controversies

Main article: Concerns and controversies over the 2010 Commonwealth Games

Several concerns were raised over the preparations of the Games and these included excessive
budget overruns,[131] likelihood of floods in Delhi due to heavy monsoon rains, infrastructural
compromise, poor living conditions at the Commonwealth Games Village, delays in construction
of the main Games' venues,[132][133] the withdrawal of prominent athletes,[134] widespread
corruption by officials of the Games' Organising Committee[135] and possibility of a terrorist
attack by militants.[136]

The 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi was criticized by several prominent Indian politicians
and social activists. One of the outspoken critics of the Games is Mani Shankar Aiyar, former
Indian Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports. In April 2007, Aiyar commented that the Games
are "irrelevant to the common man" and criticized the Indian government for sanctioning billions
of dollars for the Games even though India requires massive investment in social development
programs.[137] In July 2010, he remarked that he would be "unhappy if the Commonwealth Games
are successful".[138] Miloon Kothari, leading Indian expert on socio-economic development,
questioned the justification of spending billions of dollars on a 12-day sports event "when 46%
of India's children and 55% of women are malnourished".[139]

Concerns raised by Aiyar were echoed by several others in India. Initial concerns about the 2010
Commonwealth Games included delays in completion of projects, poor construction standards,
corruption by Games' Organising Committee officials and possibility of a terrorist attack. The
Indian media also alleged that Games' Organising Committee officials were involved in serious
corruption and these allegations included acceptance of bribe during the process of awarding
construction contracts for the Games' venues.[11][140] The Commonwealth Games Organising
Committee on 5 August 2010 suspended T S Darbari (joint director in the organising committee)
and Sanjay Mahendroo (deputy director general in the organising committee) following the
report of the three-member panel which was probing the financial irregularities related to the
Queen's Baton Relay.[141] Organising Committee treasurer Anil Khanna resigned from the post in
the wake of allegations that his son's firm had secured a contract for laying synthetic courts at a
tennis stadium.[142] On September 23, The Daily Telegraph UK showed photographs taken of
child labour working on the Games sites.[143] There was also multiple cases of items being rented
for the 45 days for more money than it would cost to actually buy the item.[144] In one such case,
72 golf carts were hired for 4.23 lakh (US$ 9,602.1) each, when they could have been
purchased for 1.84 lakh (US$ 4,176.8) each.[144]

Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), an apex Government of India anti-corruption agency,

released a report highlighting financial irregularities in up to fourteen Games projects.[145] As per
CVC report, in total 129 works in 71 organisations have been inspected.[146] The preliminary
findings include — complete lack of involvement of the city and the community at large, award
of work contracts at higher prices, poor quality assurance and management, and award of work
contracts to ineligible agencies.[147]

Weeks before the start of the Games, Indian media outlets highlighted the poor construction
standards at several of the main Games venues.[139] In late September 2010, the president of the
Commonwealth Games Federation remarked that the Games Village were far from completion
and needed a "deep clean" and New Zealand's chef de mission even claimed that the Games
might not take place given the amount of work to be done.[148] The concerns came to media
attention in late September 2010 after media outlets began reporting on "filthy and unlivable
conditions" and taking photos of paan stains and excrement in living quarters at the games
village. Just a day after these remarks, a footbridge under construction near the Nehru Stadium
collapsed, injuring 27 and seriously injuring five. On 22 September 2010, some tiles at the
wrestling stadium's false ceiling caved in; however, there were no reported injuries.[149] After the
start of the games, a large scoreboard at the rugby stadium toppled over, though before any
competitions had started in the stadium. Security concerns were highlighted by an Australian TV
crew from the Seven Network who claimed to have walked past security with a suitcase
containing a dummy bomb casing and its detonator on 15 September,[150][151][152][153] although the
claim was later challenged as being 'bogus' and dishonest.[154][155] Concerns of a terrorist attack
were also raised following a gun attack that took place outside the Jama Masjid on 19 September
2010. However, the Indian authorities stated that the shooting was a "one-off incident".[156]
In the opening ceremony, the chairman of Organising Committee, Suresh Kalmadi, faced further
embarrassment when he was booed by the Indian spectators at the start of his welcome speech.
The crowd atmosphere otherwise was upbeat, especially when they offered a warm applause to
the neighboring Pakistan squad despite the tense relations between India and Pakistan.[157]

More than a dozen athletes from Australia and England, mainly swimmers, fell ill in the initial
days of the swimming competitions. Early suspicions rested on the quality of water in the
swimming pools of the SPM Complex, but other competing teams, including South Africa,
reported no such illness.[158] Daily water quality tests were being carried out on the water of the
pools, as mandated by the event standards. Additional tests were ordered after news of the
illnesses, but they also did not find anything amiss. The Australian team's chief doctor, Peter
Harcourt, ruled that the "chances of the [Delhi] pool being the cause of the problem is very
remote" and praised the hygiene and food quality in the Delhi Games Village.[159] He suggested
that it could be a common case of Traveler's diarrhea (locally called Delhi belly), or the
Australian swimmers could have contracted the stomach virus during their training camp in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[159] English Olympic and Commonwealth gold-medalist swimmer
Rebecca Adlington said that the water quality was absolutely fine.[160]

In another incident, three Ugandan officials were injured when the car they were travelling in hit
a security wheel stopper at the Games village.[161] The chairman of the Games' Organising
Committee, Suresh Kalmadi, apologized to the Ugandan High Commissioner to India for the
freak car accident.[162]

The negative pre-event publicity and heavy security presence played in part in low spectator
attendance during the initial events. However the numbers picked up as the Games progressed.

Formation of dedicated investigation committee

The day after the conclusion of the Games, the Indian Government announced the formation of a
special committee to probe the allegations of corruption and mismanagement against the
Organizing Committee. The probe committee will be led by former Comptroller and Auditor
General of India VK Shungloo. This probe will be in addition to the Central Bureau of
Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, and Central Vigilance Commission investigations
already underway. The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh had promised in mid-
August, when reports of the bungling first surfaced, that corrupt officials will be given "severe
and exemplary" punishment after the Games. The probe committee is tasked with looking into
"all aspects of organizing and conducting" the Games, and "to draw lessons from it." It has been
given three months time to submit its report.[5][6] The Indian Sports Ministry has directed the
Organizing Committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games (led by Suresh Kalmadi), to not
release any staffer from their positions till the probe committee's work is finished.

Long-term impact
India is largely a single-sport country, with cricket far outstripping all other sports in terms of the
talent, sponsorships, spectator support, and media attention it receives. The Indian cricket team is
currently (15 October 2010) ranked world number one in Test cricket.[163] There have been
worthy world-level contenders in some sports, like Vishwanathan Anand in Chess, or Prakash
Padukone and Saina Nehwal in Badminton, but they have been the exception rather than the
norm.[citation needed] Hockey was a popular sport till the early 1980s, but a crushing defeat by
Pakistan in the finals of the 1982 Asian Games, followed quickly by India winning the 1983
Cricket World Cup, shifted the balance in cricket's favour.[citation needed] One of the important aims
of hosting the Commonwealth Games was to build world-class athletics infrastructure within the
nation, expose audiences to top-level non-cricket competition, and encourage the youth to
"Come out and play."[citation needed] Building a sporting culture that looks beyond cricket is seen as
an important task for a country which won its first ever individual Olympic gold medal only in
2008, despite having the world's second-largest population.[164]

Lord Sebastian Coe, former Olympic Champion and chairman of the 2012 London Olympics
Organising Committee, was at the stadium during the 4x400m women's relay, and witness to the
deafening cheers for the racers. He described it as "potentially the moment that could change the
course of athletics in Asia, the moment that could inspire thousands of people who'd never even
seen an athletics track before to get involved." He added that "To build a truly global capacity in
sport, you have to take it round the world - out of your own backyard. That means taking risks
and facing challenges, but it has to be done."