2010 Commonwealth GamesThe 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 opening ceremony played a key role in improving the image of the Games. As athletes arrived and

competitions started, many earlier critics changed their view. The Australian Sports Minister said that

India could now aim for the Olympics, and the President of theInternational Olympic Committee, Jacques

Rogge, said that India had made a good foundation for a future Olympics bid.[4][5] As the Games

concluded, many observers remarked that they began on an apprehensive note, but were an exceptional

experience with a largely positive ending.[6][7] Some observers accused sections of the media of bias,

unfair expectations, and negative reporting.[8] 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

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.[11][12][13] India's bid motto was New Frontiers and Friendships.[14]

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.[15] 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."[14] The Indian

government stated that it would underwrite the total cost of the Games

Organisation

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.[17] Singh also called for a revamp of

the games' organising committees:[18] 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. 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.[19][20]

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.[21]

Costs

Terminal 3, Indira Gandhi International Airport

The initial total budget estimated by the Indian Olympic Association in 2003 for hosting the Games was 

1,620 crore (US$359.64 million). In 2010, however, the official total budget soon escalated to an

estimated  11,500 crore (US$2.55 billion), a figure which excluded non-sports-related infrastructure

development.[22] Business Today magazine estimated that the Games cost  60,000 crore (US$13.32

billion).[23] The 2010 Commonwealth Games are reportedly the most expensive Commonwealth Games

ever.[24]

Transport

Further information: Transport in Delhi

Road Transport, Delhi

AC Tata Marcopolo DTC Bus ferrying athletes and officials during left

A four-lane flyway, 2.2 km stretch from Lodhi Road to trans-Yamuna, linking the Games Village to

the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was constructed which reduced the travelling time between the villageand

the Stadium to six minutes.

Delhi Metro

Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway with Toll Tax Gate, Gurgaon

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.[25] Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) was used to tag

vehicles in venue parking lots to help organize mass parking and increase security.[26]

Indira Gandhi International Airport is being modernised, expanded, and upgraded. Costing nearly $1.95

billion, Terminal 3 has improved airportpassenger 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.[27]

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.[28][29] 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.[30] 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".[31][32]

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.[33] 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).[34]

Other preparation

The helium aerostat with traditional IndianRajasthani puppets attached, during the 2010 Commonwealth Games opening

ceremony

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.[35]

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.[36]

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.[37] 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.[38]

[39] Bamboo screens have been erected around city slums to separate visitors from the sights of the

slums,[40] a practice which human rights campaigners have deemed dishonest and immoral.[41]

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.[42]

Symbols

Mascot

The official mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games is Shera, an anthropomorphised tiger.[43] 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" [44]

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

A.R. Rehman is Singing the theme song in the opening ceremony.

The official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games "Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto" was composed and

performed by the Indian musician A. R. Rahman.[45] 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.[46]

The baton was designed by Michael Foley, a graduate of the National Institute of Design.[47] 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.[48] Click on the blue dots in the

table to read about the individual events.

   ●    Opening ceremony         Event competitions    ●    Event finals    ●    Closing ceremony

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

Venue

Ceremonies ● ●Jawaharlal Nehru 

Stadium

Aquatics● ● ●

● ●

● ● ●

● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ●● ●

● ● ● ●

● ● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ●● ● ●

● ● 56SPM Swimming Pool Complex

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

Athletics ● ●

● ● ●

● ●● ●

● ● ●● ● ●● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● ●

● ● 52Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium & India 

Gate

Badminton ●● ● ●

● ●6

Siri Fort Sports Complex

Boxing

● ● ● ●

● ● ●● ● ●

10 Talkatora Stadium

Cycling● ● ●

● ●● ●

● ●● ●

● ● ● ● ● ● ● 18

I. G. Indoor Stadium 

Complex & India Gate

Gymnastics ● ● ● ●● ● ●

● ●

● ● ●● ●

● ●● ●● ●

20I. G. Indoor 

Stadium Complex

Hockey ● ● 2Maj. Dhyan Chand National Stadium

Lawn bowls ● ● ● ● ● ● 6Jawaharlal Nehru 

Stadium

Netball ● 1Thyagaraj Sports Complex

Rugby sevens ● 1Delhi University Stadium

Shooting● ●● ●

● ●● ●

● ●● ●

● ● ●● ●

● ●● ●

● ● ●

● ●● ●● ●

● ● ●● ● ●

36Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range

Squash ● ● ● ● ● 5Siri Fort Sports Complex

Table tennis ● ● ● ● ●● ● ●

8Yamuna Sports Complex

Tennis ● ●● ● ●

5R.K. Khanna Tennis 

Complex

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

Stadium

Wrestling● ● ●

● ●● ●

● ●● ●

● ● ●● ● ●

● ●● ●

21I. G. Indoor 

Stadium Complex

Total Gold Medals

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

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

Venue

Opening ceremony

Main article: 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony

The 2010 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. In the foreground is the aerostat

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.[49] The opening

ceremony was directed by Ganapathy Bharat, known commonly as Bharat Bala, an acclaimed Tamil film

director, screenwriter and film producer based in Kodambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

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.[50] 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.[51] As well, Sir Anand Satyanand, the Governor General of New Zealand (the first of

Indian descent), attended the ceremony.[52]

The opening ceremony was praised throughout the world as "dazzling" and "a moment of pride for India".

[53] Newspapers in major Commonwealth countries heavily praised the ceremony such as Australia and

England, with headlines such as "Inida has arrived" and "Commonwealth Games kicks off in style".[53] The

International media were greatly surprised at the smoothness of the conduction of the ceremony, and

described it as "a display of pageantry and technical wizardry".[54] Mediapersons reported that India had

put its best face forward and pulled off "a brilliant opening ceremony that was extraordinary in its ambition

and execution".[54]

The opening ceremony is widely held to have dispelled the fears and negative publicity surrounding the

Games.[who?] Internationally, people declared that the opening ceremony "made India's troubles seem so

far away".[54] The Australian said that "after a lead-up plagued by terror threats, a bridge collapse, a

shambolic village, the first case of dengue fever and more, India delivered a brilliant and lively opening

ceremony. There were no visible glitches, and all 71 nations participated despite threats of boycotting". It

also added that India "should feel proud of the opening ceremony, classy and showy but somehow

warmer and less contrived than the Beijing experience. No collapsed bridges. No slithering snakes. No

collapsing roof and, blow me down, before a late blow-out she almost ran on time".[54] The Sydney

Morning Herald said that the ceremony was "well beyond what could have been expected after a shoddy

build-up".[54] The Daily Telegraph said that the ceremony "truly answered the question on everyone’s lips

over the past two months: “Can they get it finished on time?"[...] Delhi's extravaganza compared

favourably with the greatopening ceremonies of recent times".[54]

Sports

There were events in 21 disciplines across 17 sports for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Aquatics (details)

 Diving

 Swimming

 Synchronised swimming

 Archery (8) (details)

 Athletics (46) (details)

 Badminton (6) (details)

 Boxing (11) (details)

Cycling (details)

 Road

 Track

Gymnastics (details)

 Artistic gymnastics

 Rhythmic gymnastics

 Hockey (2) (details)

 Lawn bowls (6) (details)

Kabaddi was a demonstration sport at the Games.[55]

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.[56]

Medal table

Medalists of the Badminton mixed team competition at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. From the left: India (silver),

Malaysia (gold), and England (bronze).

Medalists of the 10 metre air pistol pairs women at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. From the left: Dina

Aspandiyarova, Pamela McKenzie, Heena Sidhu, Annu Raj Singh, Dorothy Ludwig, and Lynda Hare.

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.

The ranking in this table is consistent with International Olympic Committee convention in its published

medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation

have won (in this context, a "nation" is an entity represented by an NOC). The number of silver medals is

taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking

is given and they are listed alphabetically by IOC country code.

In Boxing two bronze medals were awarded in each weight class. Additionally there was a tie of three

athletes for the third place in thewomen's pole vault in athletics meant that three bronze medals were

awarded. Therefore, the total number of bronze medals is greater than the total number of gold or silver

medals.[57]

  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[58]

Closing ceremony

This section requires expansion.

The games closed on 14 October 2010 in a colourful closing ceremony featuring both Indian and Scottish

performers.[59][60][61] The closing ceremony was not as well received as the opening ceremony.[62] 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".[63] A day after the ceremony, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond

stated that "[Scotland] is highly impressed with Delhi's success in holding the multi-sport event,[...] Delhi

hosted a very successful Commonwealth Games. It will be a challenge to emulate".[64]

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.[65] Rwanda fielded a team for the

games for the first time after becoming a Commonwealth member in 2009.[66] Numbers of athletes are

shown in brackets. Tokelau was initially expected to compete, but did not do so.[67]

 Anguilla (12)[68]

 Antigua and 

Barbuda (17)[69]

 Australia (377) [70]

 Bahamas (24) [71]

 Falkland 

Islands (15)[86]

 Gambia (17)[87]

 Ghana (64)[88]

 Gibraltar (15)[89]

 Mauritius (55)[102]

 Montserrat (5)[103]

 Mozambique (10) [104]

 Namibia (30) [105]

 Nauru (6)[106]

 Scotland (191) [120]

 Seychelles (26)[121]

 Sierra Leone (31)[122]

 Singapore (68) [123]

 Bangladesh (70) [72

]

 Barbados (39)[73]

 Belize (9)[74]

 Bermuda (14) [75]

 Botswana (49)[76]

 British Virgin 

Islands (2)[77]

 Brunei (12)[78]

 Cameroon (20)[79]

 Canada (251)[80]

 Cayman 

Islands (17)[81]

 Cook Islands (31)[82]

 Cyprus (56)[83]

 Dominica (15)[84]

 England (365) [85]

 Grenada (10)[90]

 Guernsey (43) [

91]

 Guyana (34)[92]

 India (495)

 Isle of 

Man (33)[91]

 Jamaica (48)[93]

 Jersey (33) [94]

 Kenya (136)[95]

 Kiribati(17)[96]

 Lesotho (10)[97]

 Malawi (43)[98]

 Malaysia (203)[99]

 Maldives (28) [1

00]

 Malta (22) [101]

 New Zealand (192)[107]

 Nigeria (101) [108]

 Niue (24)[109]

 Norfolk Island (22)[110]

 Northern Ireland (80)[111]

 Pakistan (54)[112]

 Papua New Guinea (79)[113]

 Rwanda (22) [114]

 Saint Helena (4)[115]

 Saint Kitts and Nevis (7)[116]

 Saint Lucia (13)[117]

 Saint Vincent and the 

Grenadines(14)[118]

 Samoa (53)[119]

 Solomon 

Islands (12)[124]

 South Africa (113)[125]

 Sri Lanka (94)[126]

 Swaziland (11)[127]

 Tanzania (40)[128]

 Tonga (22)[129]

 Trinidad and 

Tobago (82) [130]

 Turks and Caicos 

Islands (8)[131]

 Tuvalu (3)[132]

 Uganda (65) [133]

 Vanuatu (14)[134]

 Wales (175) [91]

 Zambia (22)[135]

Nations that competed at the Games

Venues

Main article: Venues of the 2010 Commonwealth Games

The main venue of the Games, theJawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The venue of the Tennis, the RK Khanna Tennis Complex, New Delhi.

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.[136]

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,[137] is universally accessible particularly to accommodate para-sport athletes.[138]

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,[139] 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,

[140][141] the withdrawal of prominent athletes,[142] widespread corruption by officials of the Games'

Organising Committee[143] and possibility of a terrorist attack by militants.[144]

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.[145] In July 2010, he remarked that he

would be "unhappy if the Commonwealth Games are successful".[146] 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".[147]

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.[15][148] 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.[149] 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.[150] On September 23, The Daily Telegraph UK showed photographs

taken of child labour working on the Games sites.[151] 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.[152] In one such case, 72 golf

carts were hired for  4.23 lakh (US$9,390.6) each, when they could have been purchased for  1.84 lakh

(US$4,084.8)each.[152]

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

report highlighting financial irregularities in up to fourteen Games projects.[153] As per CVC report, in total

129 works in 71 organisations have been inspected.[154] 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.[155]

Weeks before the start of the Games, Indian media outlets highlighted the poor construction standards at

several of the main Games venues.[147] 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.[156] 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.[157] 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,[158][159][160][161] although the claim was later revealed to be 'bogus' and

dishonest journalism.[162][163] 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".[164]

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.[165]

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.[166] 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.[167] 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.[167] English Olympic and Commonwealth gold-medalist swimmer Rebecca Adlington said that

the water quality was absolutely fine.[60]

In another incident, three Ugandan officials were injured when the car they were travelling in hit a security

wheel stopper at the Games village.[168] The chairman of the Games' Organising Committee, Suresh

Kalmadi, apologized to the Ugandan High Commissioner to India for the freak car accident[citation needed].

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 Shunglu. 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.[9][10] 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 Central Government increased security at Delhi's top

eight hotels and 80 trucks of sand were checked "shovel by shovel" for hidden bombs and grenades.[169]

Legacy

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.[170] 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" (the

official theme of the games).[171]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 Beijing 2008,

despite having the world's second-largest population.[172]

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."[60]

The probe report showed how the head of the ticketing agency, IRCTC - Sanjiv Mittal was removed from his post when he raised the issue about the free tickets distribution. The projected revenue from ticketing was assessed at Rs 100 crore, but the OC only managed to earn Rs 39 crore. 

Only 2 bidders in fray for CWG broadcastAshish Sinha / New Delhi August 20, 2009, 1:07 IST

The multi-million dollar production contract for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010 may be decided between two entities — consortium of Nimbus Communications and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and Satellite Information Service Live of United Kingdom — as only these two entities are said to have submitted the bids today, highly places sources said.

August 19 was the final day of submission of financial and technical bids.

“Not everyone turned up with their bid documents today. Those who have submitted their bids will have to wait for some time before the matter is finally decided,” said a government source on the condition of anonymity.

When contacted, an official concerned with the CWG Organising Committee refused to comment on the matter.

Earlier, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) had shortlisted five firms out of a total of 10 interested bidders for producing the high definition (HDTV) format telecast of the CWG 2010 for Doordarshan, the host broadcaster for the event.

Those shortlisted include Nimbus Sports International, Singapore, in consortium with International Sports Broadcasting, USA, Swiss-based International Games Broadcast Services, and Reliance Big Production in consortium with Tokyo Broadcasting of Japan.

The Commonwealth Games 2010 are scheduled to be held from October 3 to October 14 next year and the rules specify that host broadcaster Doordarshan has to produce an international feed in HDTV format.

Since Doordarshan is not equipped with the technical infrastructure for HDTV coverage, it had called for bids from domestic and international content creators in December 2008.

It was only in July that the government announced a list of five successful shortlisted firms that qualified for the financial bidding stage.

A senior executive in one of the leading sports broadcasting firms said: “It took nearly four years of preparations for the host broadcasters of Beijing Olympics. The government should quickly finalise a production house in order to produce HDTV feed for CWG 2010, something no broadcaster has done in the country so far.”

Industry experts said it may require around 200-250 high-definition camera and over 2,000 skilled manpower to cover the CWG 2010 in HDTV format as it was a specialised broadcast.

The estimated production cost for the event may turn out to be around $200 million, experts say.