Games in doubt until month
March 15, 2009 12:00am
AUSTRALIA’S participation in next year’s Commonwealth Games in India - even the event - could be scrapped as late as a month before the October 3 opening.
And, if the Games go ahead, Australian officials may hire private security to protect the athletes.
The future of the Games in New Delhi in October next year has been threatened by the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November and in Lahore two weeks ago.
Last week, a laptop with sensitive security information was stolen from a Delhi police compound.
Australia plans to send 550 athletes and officials to Delhi.
Australian Commonwealth Games Association chief executive Perry Crosswhite said if extra security was recommended, the association would break with convention and provide it.
Security would be assessed a month before the Games.
“At one month (out), if for whatever reason it’s determined that it is not secure then the Commonwealth Games Federation has really got to determine whether the Games go on,” he said.
"From six months before the Games there will be information on security and we will speak to the High Commission and the Foreign Affairs department on a regular basis.
“I’d say a year out will be a crucial point in time and then six months, three months and one month.”
Crosswhite said the officials were considering hiring private security.
“We want to make sure the security we have is acceptable. If that (private security) was what was being recommended by the powers-that-be, then we would look at it for sure.” he said."
Crosswhite represented Australia in basketball in three Olympics, including the 1972 Munich Games when terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches.
He said he would understand if an Australian athlete withdrew from the New Delhi Games over security worries.
“What happened in Munich was probably in the back of the minds of everyone in Montreal, but Canadian security forces took strong steps to ensure we felt safe (at the '76 Olympics),” he said.
“The responsibility for deciding if it is safe to send a team is on ourselves and the Government and the organising committee, and nobody takes that lightly.”
Australian swimming team head coach Alan Thompson said the high-profile Dolphins squad had private security for the past decade at all major meets and training camps, starting with the 1998 world titles in Perth.
Athletics Australia chief executive Danny Corcoran said he received almost daily updates on the progress of the Delhi Games, including an email from organisers declaring security would be the “highest priority”.