After dogs, snake in CommonWealth Games quarter

NEW DELHI: Nothing seems to be going right for the Commonwealth Games organisers. On a day when the government managers claimed that things have begun falling in shape, the South African envoy claimed that a snake was found in an athlete's room in the village.

A snake was found in a room in the residential tower earmarked for the South African athletes who have not arrived yet, High Commissioner Harris Mbulelo Mejeke told reporters. “We can't go and stay till things are fixed up. We have very grave concerns. If snakes are found we can't ask our teams to stay there. We found a snake on Saturday,” Mr Mejeke said before entering the village. “That was a threat to the lives of our athletes. Very disappointing. Basically, the basement was full of water and the staircase was also damp,” he said reinforcing the feeling that the village is “unlivable”.

On being asked if he brought the matter to the notice of the organisers, he said: “We had someone with us. They have promised us, everything will be all right. I will go and check whether the promise has been kept,” he said.

However, the South African envoy said his country’s team will not withdraw from the controversy-marred event. “The teams are coming and we are still part of the Commonwealth Games. When everything will be done we will call our teams,” he said.

In another setback, Britain's number one female tennis player Elena Baltacha pulled out of the crisis-hit Commonwealth Games on Sunday fearing a dengue epidemic. Elena said she saw the pictures of the filthy living conditions in the athletes' quarters and read the reports about the outbreak of Dengue fever and decided to skip the October 3-14 event. "It's just the hygiene, the Dengue fever, all that kind of stuff," Baltacha was quoted as saying in Daily Telegraph.

Elena suffers from a genetic liver condition that has left her immune system compromised and the Scot tennis star said it would be too high a risk. "If I didn't have a liver condition, of course I'd go. But the problem is that because it's immune-based, I am much more susceptible to picking things up, and that's why it's more of a risk for me."

Baltacha joins the list of growing athletes such as compatriot Andy Murray, Cyprus's Marcos Baghdatis and Australians Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur who pulled out of the Games.

Meanwhile, in Wellington, Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hopper denied that the organisation was partly to blame for problems in the lead-up to the Delhi games. Hooper, a New Zealander, told Television New Zealand that while the federation was the supreme authority and pushed for deadlines to be met, it was powerless to get projects completed on time.

“At the end of the day, I'm not a construction engineer. I'm not a builder. We're at the hands and the mercy of, effectively, the government of India, Delhi government, the agencies responsible for delivery of the venues.” He said all competing nations had been kept aware of issues that needed to be resolved and it was exasperating that despite “constant cajoling” venues were in a rush to be completed.