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Rediff.com  » Sports » CGF not responsible for Delhi Games missed deadlines: Hooper

CGF not responsible for Delhi Games missed deadlines: Hooper

Last updated on: September 26, 2010 18:00 IST

Image: Mike Hooper (right) with Mike Fennell (centre) and Suresh Kalmadi
Photographs: Reuters

Commonwealth Games Federation boss Mike Fennell might talk about sharing the blame for poor preparations of the Delhi mega-event but its CEO Mike Hooper says the CGF cannot be held responsible for the Organising Committee's failure to meet deadlines.

- Coverage: Commonwealth Games 2010

"I take responsibility for my areas of responsibility, and that has been working very hard with the Organising committee to get things done. Now, at the end of the day, I'm not a construction engineer. I'm not a builder," Hooper told TVNZ.

Hooper said the developers of the venues did not hand them over to the OC on time and this has led to the current crisis.

"We're at the hands and the mercy of, effectively, the Government of India, the Delhi Government, the agencies responsible for delivery of the venues. They consistently failed to meet deadlines," he said.

'Right now we need to focus on getting as much as we can do'

Image: A stray dog trots past a banner installed on a roadside near the Commonwealth Games village in New Delhi

"Now, we were very active, very strong in pushing for this to be done. The actual venues were not handed over effectively - and I say handed over from the point of view of getting venue -completion certificates and occupancy certificates," he added.

Hooper said the organisers did not act despite repeated reminders by the CGF.

"...the very frustrating thing is we have consistently spoken out loudly and clearly, consistent in our reporting: 'Get these things done. Get these venues delivered. Focus on the operational delivery of the Games.'

"And unfortunately, we are where we are. Now, we can all do these post-mortems later, Paul. The reality is right now we need to focus on getting as much as we can do. It is unfortunate that we had to go as public as we did yet again," he added.

On Saturday, Fennell had stated that the CGF shared the blame for Delhi's under-preparedness.

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