2010 Commonwealth Games

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XIX Commonwealth Games
२०१० राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल

Logo of 2010 Commonwealth Games

Host city Delhi, India

Motto Come out and play

Nations 71 Commonwealth Teams
participating

Athletes 6,081
participating

Events 272 events in 21 disciplines[1]

Opening 3 October
 ceremony

Closing 14 October
ceremony

Officially Prince Charles, Prince of

opened by Wales and Pratibha
Patil,President of India

Athlete's Oath Abhinav Bindra

Queen's Baton Sushil Kumar

Final Runner

Main Stadium Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

Website www.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 XIXCommonwealth 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, Malaysiain 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.
Initially, several concerns and controversies surfaced before the start of
the Games. Despite these concerns, all member nations of
theCommonwealth of Nationsparticipated in the event, except Fiji, which
is suspended from the Commonwealth, and Tokelau, which didn't send a
team. A widely-praisedopening ceremony helped improve the image of
the Games.[2][3] 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 Englandplaced
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.[4][5]
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 Closing ceremony
 9 Participating nations
 10 Venues
 11 Concerns and controversies
o 11.1 Formation of dedicated investigation
committee
o 11.2 Terrorist attack plans
 12 Long-term impact
 13 See also
 14 References
 15 External links

Bidding
The two principal bids for the 2010 Commonwealth Games were from
Delhi, India andHamilton, Ontario, Canada. A ballot of members was
held in November 2003 at theCommonwealth 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.[6][7][8]India's bid motto was New Frontiers and Friendships.[9]
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.[10] 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."[9] The
Indian government stated that it would underwrite the total cost of the
Games.[11]

Organisation
This section is outdated. Please update this section to
reflect recent events or newly available information.
Please see the talk page for more information. (October
2010)
Organising committee
The organisation of CWG 2010 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.[12] Singh also called for a revamp of the games' organising
committees:[13] 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.[14] 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.[15][16]
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, theConfederation 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.[17]
Costs

Terminal 3, Indira Gandhi International Airport

The initial total budget estimated byIndian 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.[18] Business
Today magazine estimated that the Games cost   300 bn ($6.8 bn).
[19]
 The 2010 Commonwealth Games are the most expensive Gaming
event ever .[20]
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 theJawaharlal Nehru
Stadiumwasconstructed 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 toRed 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.[21]
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.[22]
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.[23][24] City residents filed a
public interest petition to the Supreme Court of Indiaagainst 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.[25] 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".[26][27]
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.[28] 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).[29]
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.[30]
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.[31]
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.[32]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.[33]
[34]
 Bamboo screens have been erected around city slums to separate
visitors from the sights of the slums,[35] a practice which human rights
campaigners have deemed dishonest and immoral.[36]
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.[37]

Symbols
Mascot
The official mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is Shera,
ananthropomorphised tiger.[38] 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" [39]
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.[40] The song's title is based on the slogan of the games, "Come
out and play". The song is penned byMehboob 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.[41]
The baton was designed by Michael Foley, a graduate of the National
Institute of Design.[42] 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.
[43]
 Click on the blue dots in the table to read about the individual events.

Opening        Event Event Closing

   ●       ●       ●   
ceremony   competitions finals ceremony

Gold
  3     4    1   1   1   1
October   5     6     7     8     9     13   Med Venue
    0   1   2   4  
als

Jawaharlal
Ceremon
● ● Nehru
ies
Stadium

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

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

●  ●  ●  ● 
● ● ● 
●● ●● ●● ●● Jawaharlal
● ●●
●  ●  ●  ●  ●  ●  Nehru
Athletics ● ● ●  52
● ● ●● ●● ●● ● Stadium &I
● ●●
●  ●  ●  ●  ndia Gate
● ● ●
● ●● ● ●●

Badmint ● ●  6 Siri Fort

 ●●
Sports
on ● 
Complex
●

● ●
● ●
● ● Talkatora
Boxing 10
● Stadium
● ●
●

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

●  ●  I. G.
● ●
Gymnast ●  ●● ● Indoor
● ● ● ● ● 20
ics ● ●  ●  Stadium
● ●
● ● Complex

Maj.
Dhyan
Hockey ● ● 2 Chand
National
Stadium

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

Thyagaraj
Netball ● 1 Sports
Complex

Rugby ● 1 Delhi
sevens University
 Stadium

●  ●  ●  ●  ●  ● ● Dr. Karni

● ●
● ● ● ● ●  ●  ● ● Singh
Shooting ● 36
●  ●  ●  ●  ●● ● ●  ● ● Shooting
● ●
● ● ● ● ● ● Range

Siri Fort
● ●
Squash ● ● 5 Sports
●
Complex

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

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

Jawaharlal
Weightli ●  ●  ●  ●  ●  ●  ● 
● ● ● 17 Nehru
fting ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Stadium

●  ●  ●  I. G.
Wrestlin ●  ● ● ● ● ●  ● Indoor
21
g ●● ●  ●  ● ●● ●  Stadium
● ● ● Complex

Total
Total Gold
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 Med Venue
als

Opening ceremony
Main article: 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games was held at

theJawaharlal 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.[44]
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.[45] 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.[46] As well, Sir Anand Satyanand, the Governor General
of New Zealand (the first of Indian descent), attended the ceremony.[47]

Sports
There were events in 21 disciplines across 17 sports for the 2010
Commonwealth Games.
 Aquatics (details)  Cycling (details)   Netball (1) (details)
  Diving   Road   Rugby sevens (1)
  Swimming   Track (details)
  Synchronised  Gymnastics (details)   Shooting (44)(details)
 swimming   Artistic   Squash (5) (details)
  Archery (8) (details) gymnastics   Table tennis (7)
  Athletics (46)   Rhythmic (details)
(details) gymnastics   Tennis (5) (details)
  Badminton (6)   Hockey (2) (details)   Weightlifting (15)
(details)   Lawn bowls (6) (details)
  Boxing (11) (details) (details)   Wrestling (21)
(details)
Kabaddi was a demonstration sport at the Games.[48]
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 aTwenty20 tournament, and
the organisers did not want a one day tournament.[49]
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 59 46 142
4  Canada 26 17 32 75
5  South Africa 12 11 10 33
6  Kenya 12 11 9 32
7  Malaysia 12 10 13 35
8  Singapore 11 11 9 31
9  Nigeria 11 10 14 35
10  Scotland 9 10 7 26
 Total 272 274 282 828[50]
Closing ceremony
This section requires expansion.

The games closed on 14th October 2010 in a colourful closing ceremony

featuring both Indian and Scottish performers.[51][52][53] The closing
ceremony was not appreciated as much as the opening
ceremony. [54] 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".[55]

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.[56] Rwanda fielded a team for the games for
the first time after becoming a Commonwealth member in 2009.
[57]
 Numbers of athletes are shown in brackets.Tokelau was initially
expected to compete, but did not do so.[58]
  Anguilla(1  Falkland  Mauritius(55   Scotland(
[59]
2) Islands(15)[77] ) [93]
191)  [111]

  Antigua   Gambia   Montserrat(5   Seychelle

[78] [94] [112]
and Barbuda(17) (17) ) s(26)
[60]
  Ghana(6   Mozambique  Sierra
  Australia( 4)[79] (10) [95] Leone(31)[113]
[61]
377)    Gibralta   Namibia(30)   Singapore
[80] [96] [114]
  Bahamas( r(15) (68) 
[62]
24)    Grenada   Nauru(6)[97]   Solomon
[81]
  Banglades (10)   New Islands(12)[115]
h(70) [63]   Guernse Zealand(192)[98]   South
[82]
  Barbados( y(43)    Nigeria(101)  Africa(113)[116]
[64]
39)   Guyana( [99]
  Sri
  Belize(9) 34)[83]   Niue(24)[100] Lanka(94)[117]
[65]
  India(49   Norfolk   Swaziland
[101] [118]
  Bermuda( 5) Island(22) (11)
[66]
14)    Isle of   Northern   Tanzania(
[82] [102] [119]
  Botswana( Man (33) Ireland(80) 40)
[67]
49)   Jamaica   Pakistan(54)   Tonga(22
[84] [103] [120]
  British (48) )
Virgin Islands(2)   Jersey(3   Papua New   Trinidad
[68] [85] [104]
3)  Guinea(79) and
  Brunei(12   Kenya(1   Rwanda(22)  Tobago(82) [121]
[69]
) 36)[86] [105]
  Turks and
  Cameroon   Kiribati(   Saint Caicos
[70]
(20) 17)[87] Helena(4)[106] Islands(8)[122]
  Canada(25  Lesotho   Saint Kitts   Tuvalu(3)
[71] [123]
1) (10) [88]
and Nevis (7) [107]

  Cayman   Malawi(   Saint   Uganda(6

Islands(17)[72] 43) [89]
Lucia(13) [108]
5)  [124]

  Cook   Malaysi   Saint   Vanuatu(

[73] [125]
Islands(31) a(203)[90] Vincent and the 14)
[109]
  Cyprus(56   Maldive Grenadines(14)   Wales(17
)[74] s(28) [91]   Samoa(53) 5) [82]
[110]
  Dominica(   Malta(2   Zambia(2
[75] [126]
15) 2)  [92]
2)
  England(3
[76]
65) 
Nations that competed at the Games

Venues
Main article: Venues of the 2010 Commonwealth Games

The main venue of the Games, theJawaharlal 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.[127]
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,[128] is universally
accessible particularly to accommodate para-sport athletes.[129]
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,[130] likelihood of floods in
Delhi due to heavy monsoonrains, infrastructural compromise, poor
living conditions at the Commonwealth Games Village, delays in
construction of the main Games' venues,[131][132] the withdrawal of
prominent athletes,[133] widespread corruption by officials of the Games'
Organising Committee[134] and possibility of a terrorist attack by militants.
[135]

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.[136] In
July 2010, he remarked that he would be "unhappy if the Commonwealth
Games are successful".[137] 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".[138]
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.[10][139] 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.[140] 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.[141] On September 23, The Daily Telegraph UK showed
photographs taken of child labour working on the Games sites.[142] 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.[143]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.[143]
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), an apex Government of India anti-
corruption agency, released a report highlighting financial irregularities in
up to fourteen Games projects.[144] As per CVC report, in total 129 works
in 71 organisations have been inspected.[145] 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.[146]
Weeks before the start of the Games, Indian media outlets highlighted
the poor construction standards at several of the main Games venues.
[138]
 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.[147] 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.[148] 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 Networkwho claimed to have walked
past security with a suitcase containing a dummy bomb casing and its
detonator on 15 September,[149][150][151][152] although the claim was later
revealed to be 'bogus' and dishonest journalism.[153][154] Concerns of a
terrorist attack were also raised following a gun attack that took place
outside the Jama Masjidon 19 September 2010. However, the Indian
authorities stated that the shooting was a "one-off incident".[155]
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.[156]
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.[157] 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.[158] 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.[158] English Olympic and
Commonwealth gold-medalist swimmer Rebecca Adlington said that the
water quality was absolutely fine.[159]
In another incident, three Ugandan officials were injured when the car
they were travelling in hit a security wheel stopper at the Games village.
[160]
 The chairman of the Games' Organising Committee, Suresh Kalmadi,
apologized to the Ugandan High Commissioner to India for the freak car
accident.[161]
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 Organising 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 organising
and conducting" the Games, and "to draw lessons from it." It has been
given three months time to submit its report.[4][5] The Indian Sports
Ministry has directed the Organising 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.
Terrorist attack plans
On October 10, 2010, the Indian government received detailed reports
from theCentral 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.[162]

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 inTest cricket.[163] There have
been worthy world-level contenders in some sports, likeVishwanathan
Anand in Chess, or Prakash Padukone and Saina Nehwal inBadminton,
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."[159]

See also