Commonwealth Games president warns England over withdrawing from Delhi 2010

COMMONWEALTH Games Federation president Mike Fennell has warned that London 2012 will suffer if England do not send at team to Delhi 2010 and blamed their concerns on western snobbery.

HITTING OUT: Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell blames England security fears on western snobbery (Getty Images)

Last month it was reported that senior Whitehall officials had said there was ‘virtually no chance' of England sending a team to the Commonwealth Games in October because of the security risk in Delhi.

The issue of terrorist threats was sharply brought into view earlier this month after the gunfire attack on the Togo national football team in Angola on the eve of the African Cup of Nations.

The sub-continent has not been immune to such attacks either, with England feeling forced to withdraw from the World Badminton Championships in Hyderabad last year, while the death toll in the attack in Mumbai in November 2008 reached 172.

The Sri Lankan cricket team bus also came under attack in Lahore last March but Fennell believes a snobbish attitude among the Occident.

"I don't think there is any doubt about that whatsoever," Fennell told the Times. "If a problem occurs in India then it is viewed differently to the same problem in another country.

"There are certain perceptions.

"A country that wants to host an event should think how other people will then view the security risks in their own country. The fact is there is always a security risk.

"Everybody has to make their own decisions but if you don't go [to Delhi] I suggest you don't travel anywhere in the world.

"The decision to pull out of the World Badminton Championships was a major mistake. The tournament was a success.

"The only people who lost were the athletes who were prevented from participating."

While security risks persist in Delhi, preparations for the Games have been tumultuous to say the least.

The venues, most notably the showpiece Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, are reportedly behind schedule with Indian press reporting it would take a miracle for the capital to be ready to stage the Games.

Meanwhile Delhi 2010 organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi called for the head of CGF chief executive Mike Hooper after the New Zealander recommending international aid to speed up the stuttering preparations.

Fennell said: "That was damaging to the extent that certain things that should have been done were delayed because of personality clashes, but we have overcome that now.

"Having a contingency like moving the Games to another country is virtually impossible at such short notice. There would be a huge cost. The contingency is to get Delhi right.

 "We monitor the situation very closely and we can go very late. We've had Games in the past, like the Olympics in Athens, where people were very nervous right up until a month before.

"The Commonwealth Games in Manchester had problems right up to the end but they turned out to be excellent.

"Organising a multisport Games is a very complex issue. It's all systems go and we want everything signed off by the end of August."

Fennell remained adamant however that the Commonwealth Games would not suffer as much as England would, should they opt against competing.

"The Games would proceed and the bigger blow would be to the English athletes," he added.