(REUTERS) – England said it will send its athletes to the troubled Commonwealth Games in India after unanimous agreement with 17-member sports and signs of improvement on the ground in Delhi.
“Commonwealth Games England and its 17-member sports today unanimously agreed that they will go to the Delhi Games,” a statement said yesterday.
“CGE’s Chef de Mission, Craig Hunter, and our team in Delhi are now seeing the improved levels of resourcing which are required to resolve the significant operational issues,” it added.
“But we will continue to monitor the situation daily to ensure the (athletes’) village and stadia are safe and fit for purpose.”
India is scrambling against the clock to save the Games, due to open on October 3, after champion athletes quit the showcase event and nations threatened to stay home unless authorities cleaned a village deemed “unfit for human habitation”.
Commonwealth Games England chairman Andrew Foster told BBC radio that conditions in the village had improved notably and the mood was much more positive.
“It’s being described as now getting towards three-star, four-star hotel standard, but there have been lots of standing water around,” he said of the village.
“The absolutely unanimous and positive view of all the sports together tonight was that people passionately want to go because there are medals there to be won, there are records to be broken,” he added.
“Everyone there tonight was saying we want to go for it.”
England is sending 551 athletes to Delhi, with the first group of 22 leaving on Thursday.
However several of the country’s leading gold medal hopes have pulled out already, including triple jump world champion Phillips Idowu and Olympic 400 metres gold medallist Christine Ohuruogu.
Idowu’s withdrawal was based on security concerns, with the athlete saying on his Twitter page: “Sorry people, but I have children to think about. My safety is more important to them than a medal.”
Cycling hopes Ian Stannard and Ben Swift pulled out yesterday because of the risk of dengue fever.
An epidemic, in part blamed on stagnant water around unfinished construction sites, has already hit Delhi and thousands of people are being treated in hospital.
“The big thing that has happened today that has made a substantial difference is that they put the whole development under a cabinet minister,” said Foster, who had warned earlier in the week that the England squad’s participation in the Games was on a ‘knife-edge’.
Commonwealth Games England said it would continue to apply pressure on local organisers for assurances about the stadiums and accommodation.
“At all times the safety and security of our team is paramount,” it added.
A portion of false ceiling in the weightlifting venue caved in on Wednesday, a day after the collapse of a footbridge by the main stadium injured 27 workers, highlighting the problems facing organisers as they race to complete work.)