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 participating 71 Commonwealth Teams

Athletes participating 6,081

Events 272 events in 21 disciplines[1]

Opening ceremony 3 October

Closing ceremony 14 October

 Officially opened by Prince Charles, Prince of Walesand Pratibha

Patil, President of India

Athlete's Oath Abhinav Bindra

Queen's Baton Final Sushil Kumar

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 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.
Initially, several concerns and controversies surfaced before the start of the Games. Despite these concerns,
all member nations of theCommonwealth 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.[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 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. [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 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. [6][7][8] India's
bid motto wasNew 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 pagefor 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, 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. [17]

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.[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

AC Tata Marcopolo DTC Bus ferrying athletes and officials during left

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.[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 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.[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 famedTaj 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, an anthropomorphised 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 by Mehboob in Hindi with a sprinkling of English words. It was released on 28
August 2010. The music video, directed byBharath 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 ceremony         Event competitions    ●    Event finals    ●    Closing ceremony

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

Jawaharlal Nehru
Ceremonies ● ●
Stadium

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

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

● ● 
● ● 
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Jawaharlal Nehru
●
Athletics ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●  ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 52 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 Nehru
Lawn bowls ● ● ● ● ● ● 6
Stadium

Thyagaraj Sports
Netball ● 1
Complex

Rugby Delhi University

● 1
sevens Stadium

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

Siri Fort Sports

Squash ● ● ● ● ● 5
Complex

● ●  Yamuna Sports

Table tennis ● ● ● ● ● 8
● Complex

● ●  R.K. Khanna

Tennis ● ● 5
● Tennis Complex

Jawaharlal Nehru
Weightlifting ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 17
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.[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) 
  Diving   Road 
  Swimming   Track 
  Synchronised swimming  Gymnastics (details) 
  Archery (8) (details)   Artistic gymnastics 
  Athletics (46) (details)   Rhythmic gymnastics 
  Badminton (6) (details)   Hockey (2) (details) 
  Boxing (11) (details)   Lawn bowls (6) (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 a Twenty20 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 (12)   Falkland   Mauritius (55)[93]   Scotland (191) 

 [59]
  Antigua and
Barbuda (17)[60]
  Australia (377) 
[61]
  Bahamas (24) [
62]
  Bangladesh (70
) [63]
  Barbados (39)
[64]
  Belize (9)[65]
  Bermuda (14) [ 
66]
  Botswana (49)
[67]
  British Virgin
Islands (2)[68]
  Brunei (12)[69]
  Cameroon (20) 
[70]
  Canada (251) 
[71]
  Cayman
Islands (17)[72]
  Cook
Islands (31)[73]
  Cyprus (56)[74] 
  Dominica (15)
[75]
  England (365) [
76]
Islands (15)[77]   Montserrat (5)[94] [111]
  Gambia (17)   Mozambique (10   Seychelles (26
[78]
) [95] )[112]
 Ghana (64)[79]   Namibia (30) [96]   Sierra
  Gibraltar (15)  Nauru (6) [97] Leone (31)[113]
[80]
  New   Singapore (68) 
[114]
  Grenada (10) Zealand (192)[98]
[81]
  Nigeria (101) [99]   Solomon
  Guernsey (43   Niue (24)[100] Islands (12)[115]
) [82]   Norfolk   South
  Guyana (34) Island (22)[101] Africa (113)[116]
[83]
  Northern   Sri Lanka (94)
[117]
 India (495) Ireland (80)[102]
  Isle of   Pakistan (54)[103]   Swaziland (11
Man (33)[82]   Papua New )[118]
  Jamaica (48) Guinea (79)[104]   Tanzania (40)
[84] [119]
  Rwanda (22) [105]
  Jersey (33) [85   Saint Helena (4)   Tonga (22)[120]
] [106]   Trinidad and
 Kenya (136)   Saint Kitts and Tobago (82) [121]
[86]
Nevis (7)[107]   Turks and
 Kiribati(17)   Saint Lucia (13) Caicos Islands (8)[122]
[87] [108]   Tuvalu (3)[123]
  Lesotho (10)   Saint Vincent   Uganda (65) [1
[88]
and the Grenadines(14)
24]
  Malawi (43) [109]   Vanuatu (14)
[89]
  Samoa (53)[110]
[125]
 Malaysia (20   Wales (175) [82
3)[90] ]
  Maldives (28   Zambia (22)
[91] [126]
) 
  Malta (22) [92]
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 monsoon rains, 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 Network who 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 Masjid on 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 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. [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 in Test cricket.[163] There have been worthy world-level contenders in
some sports, like Vishwanathan Anand inChess, 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 everindividual 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.