LuigiVercotti

She was part of the state government for the region of Delhi and not per se part of the Delhi OC. Not knowing her political affiliations (most of the apparatchiks involved were from the Congress Party) I guess she us relatively safe. Fir now...

Rols, this would have to be up there with the Americas Cup Simulation Game as one of the dumbest ideas in sporting computer game history. Can you imagine the excitement being generated in such stalwarts of the CWGs the Isle of Man, St Kitts and Norfolk Island that finally they can go online and replicate the success of their CWG heroes? And come someone tell us what the core values of the (CWG) brand and Commonwealth are? We all got invaded/settled by the Poms?

Not too sure of the status of Kalmadi on the IOA: Whilst you get the feeling Kaos Kalmadi is klutching at straws there is a kernel of truth in how dimly the IOC views political interference in NOCs (when they aren't in despotic third world countries or petrodollar rich gulf states that is). However I can;t imagine Jacques would be sending off missives pleading for mercy or threats of Olympic boycotts on Kalmadi's behalf. If anything they will obsequiously let the decision go through to the keeper as "this is a domestic Indian concern" then await with bated breath a Delhi 2020 or later bid, which they can absolve from any 2010 CWG issues saying that the Kalmadi regime were the problem. At the end of the day when you mix up domestic political functionaries and power broking with major sports administration this kind of inefficiency and corruption is almost inevitable. It takes a country with a far more developed attitude to the separation of political power and personal enrichment to get such a huge project right. The lessons are there for both the IOC as well as the CGF and MaFIFA to see, and if they ignore it then that's their problem.

Re the GamesBids forum Twitter account...I assume it's automated to just generate the title of each new topic? Any possibility (like the Inside the Games and ATR Twitter accounts) hash marks can be used (e.g. #Munich2018 or #IOC etc) as part of each new tweet?

Thanks Baron...the Indians well and truly ignored that old Olympic maxim, "you don't sh!t where you eat". I bet in the closeted, behind doors world of the Olympic-World Sports Industrial Complex India's reputation is as low as you can go. And how about the bald faced effrontery and thieving of that prick Kalmadi...getting a hard on in the media for how good the ceremonies were then refusing to front up the money because he said they were substandard. Even Blather wouldn't stoop to that level.

This story is getting some traction downunder: First off you can be sure that right now the IOC are getting a whiff of this story and will be filling it away for future reference in case there is any Delhi 2020 or beyond bid. You don't screw over the sporting associations and the big players in supplying items and services related to the CWGs and Olympics like the Delhi buffoons have done and expect to be given a free pass down the road. Secondly you can be damned sure that right now everyone looking at the 2018 race will want to be getting far better financial guarantees from the two bids that all will be sound. And let's face it, how can Hambantota and their Chinese/Korean funded infrastructure plans also spread to take care of the extensive costs with ceremonies, team transport etc etc. It would be logical to assume that if the Indians have reneged or delayed payments to the Australian CWG Association they will have done the same to every other country that sent teams, and each one of those countries will now be asking for more financial rigour in the bid process. Battered as it may be by floods Queensland's and Australia's financial backing of sport and the Commonwealth Games is far more secure than any far less developed countries effort. One thing is for certain; Ric's "I'll never do it again" comment and the two-timing bastardry of Kalmadi shows that all of us here who thought that Delhi was a blot on the Commonwealth Games were 100% right in our assessment.

Baron, I was hanging off using the Machiavellian imprimatur for good old Septic...thanks for the rebound save

Excellent analysis Aluz. And of course all it takes is a simple bit of research on (for example) Prince Ali of Jordan (one of the new members of the ExCo who was selected by the AFC) to demonstrate what the true political situation is in MaFIFA re Blather. As Andrew Jennings discussed in an article I posted here and can be also seen in the following story the boss of world football is actively using his ability to prorogue friendly supporters into the ExCo to either improve his own re-election chances or destroy those of his rivals: João Havelange influenced the votes of non-European ExCo members in 1974 to dump the then president Stanley Rous, then went on to create his own empire which included Blather as his preferred successor. Then come 1998 Blatter uses the support of Havelange, the financial backing of Horst Dassler, plus the lobbying of the likes of Warner, Leoz, Teixeira and Blazer to get himself elected over Swede Lennart Johansson. Since then Blatter has tirelessly worked to do one thing above all; marshal his supporters via patronage at the confederation level and seduce numerous gullible FAs (such as those in South Africa, England, Australia & the US) to keep his position as president unassailable. Finally as demonstrated by the departure of Franz Beckenbauer from the ExCo and the overturning of Chung's position anyone anti-Blather gets marginalised and then dumped or retires.

I think this blog entry gives a more detailed explanation as to why Blather is playing these games with Qatar 2022 and of course trying to unravel his own ExCo board's decisions: Makes for comforting reading doesn't it to know that world football is being run by such a bunch of selfish bastards.

If looking for a reason why they should sack the lot and start again... These supposed well-informed paragons of football administration can't even honestly communicate between themselves and understand the full ramifications of the Qatar bid, to the point where some ExCo members appear to have deceived themselves if not their colleagues. And those who had any semblance of a grip on reality have been marginalised. One thing is for certain; the IOC would never countenance such an ambivalent and self-destructive process of assessing the merits of a bid to the point that the whole dates, environment and multi-national hosting agenda would change so drastically. MaFIFA is a global sporting organisation in total chaos at the top of the decision making process, riddled with incompetents, liars, opportunists and autocrats.

Rafa the problem is the CWG aren't dumb; they are as poor as the IQ of our resident Hamabantota loon. They can't afford to commission a technical report into the bids both financially and perhaps more importantly politically. After all how would it look if they were actually seriously asked to contemplate giving a backward fishing village with bugger all adequate accommodation for athletes and tourists, no sporting facilities, a failed CWG sporting effort that couldn't even win one untainted gold medal in Delhi, failed to send a delegate to the aforementioned games, misses deadlines when it comes to building infrastructure for other international sporting bodies, hasn't even found the creative capability to release a bid logo yet, relies on Koreans and Chinese aid money to build their digital fantasy infrastructure, and finally the local familial autocracy is using the bid much like the Nazis used the 36 Games as a way of glorifying their morally bankrupt leadership. It would be so embarrassing to the CWGs and to the Sri Lankans (who let's not forget were knocked back in their desire to host a F1 race by being told to build a go kart track ) that it'd probably mean that the poor dears would run off in a JimJones-like huff.

January 15th...remember that date...the one that the ICC and SLC set as the second deadline to have the three cricket grounds in your poor country finished and ready for the WC. And yet they still aren't finished are they hmmm? Remember your full of shite statement that the grounds would be ready by the 15th...and they aren't. You are so full of it if they were looking to find a sinkhole of excrement to fertilise the unfinished grounds then all they'd need to do is get a tip truck to park in front of your mealy mouthed orifice and then ask you to give us another Lord Haw Haw-like statement. By the way being able to use polysyllabic words and complex sentence structure is something I've developed by obtaining an education. How about you try it too, instead of continuing to utter your Cro-Magnon-esque rectal wind-breaking statements then using BabelFish to translate your gibberish into inanities.

I understand and to some extent agree with all this sentiment in favour of the Gold Coast bid being simply too strong an option, and the CGF can't afford to go down the path of another Delhi, nor that it isn't the same as the MaFIFA. However this is all assuming that the delegates to the vote are actually sensitive to such issues. Don't forget at least a third thought that a year after Melbourne this same organisation they could risk going to an utterly unproven candidate. Then during the lead into the Delhi farce there was a significant proportion of anti-Fennell anti-western sentiment expressed alongside some fairly disgusting cosying up between the principal figures in the Delhi games committee and government and the H2018 zealots. The CGF's state of weakness is just as valid a reason to be worried about when making the sensible decision to go for the logical choice; their membership may be swayed by the utterly fallacious blandishments that will appeal to those members who will feel aggrieved at the (justified) criticism of Delhi, or some petty third world solidarity that has no place in making credible decisions about a major sports festival. Every logical, sensible, correct, appropriate and actually profitable move from the CGF would be to go to the Gold Coast. It won't be the perfect option (no games no matter organisation gets it right 100%) but it has every element there (and most right now) to probably continue the relevance and success of the CGs. If they go to the home of our current successor to Jim Jones then the CGs will never recover. They will be considered the plaything of despots, rank amateurs and fools.

Some if not all those new ExCo members will still owe allegiance to the existing powers that be (such as Blather, Hammam, Platini etc etc). The only way to get true reform is sack every single one of them and start again. Or even better individual FAs break away from the current corrupt, indolent and pig ignorant MaFIFA and build an entirely new global football body.

Ah, the Athens factor hmmmm. I wonder how that'll play out, in terms of the vast difference between the old Empire Games of 1930 versus the Commonwealth Games that is seen by some as a chance to exploit anti-western sentiment amongst certain Commonwealth countries.

Rols I agree that the CGF is not MaFIFA and the 2014 vote shows that the CGF can make a decision based on common sense. However it has to be said that the Delhi 2010 experience demonstrated how enfeebled the CGF is when it comes to sound policies and procedures as well as there will be a push from certain governments and sporting bodies to follow some kind of anti-old Commonwealth powers approach to selecting the 2018 host. Let's not forget how certain many people were that Abuja would be a better than even chance for winning 2018 if it entered; if such a notoriously underwhelming and non-meritorious bid was perceived as having favouritism before their withdrawal then the Sri Lankan fantasy bid must be given at least some credence (even though we all know it would bring the Commonwealth Games and it's federation into arguably more disrepute than the fick-ups in Delhi or the bribes offered by Abuja).

Rob I wish I could agree 100% with you but having seen the simply lemming-like decision of the Blatherites in MaFIFA take football totally into the slough of despond by picking Qatar as well as watching the schemozzle that was the lead into Delhi 2010 the Hambantota bid will be at least of some interest to Fennell's mob later this year. It shouldn't be; it should be laughed out of existence however commonsense and sanity is in short supply with certain sports administrators. Whilst the GC2018 bid does have problems in terms of convincing locals of its value it does stand out as a beacon of reasonable and suitable existing games capability unlike the foreign aid funded fishing village that can;t even complete a cricket ground after missing two deadlines.

Why 2030? Why not 2022 or 2026? Is there that much antipathy to a future bid, or such a deficit of infrastructure support that there needs to be approx 12 years of waiting before another CG bid? Surely Hamilton could run earlier and have at least a half decent chance of winning the rights. That's assuming of course the CGs continue past 2018....

Yep, there will be lots of naysayers out there (particularly those who are either drastically affected by the floods, as well as potentially those north of the likes of Gympir and Scaryborough who have a fairly disinterested take on the GC), however now that St Anna of the Waters has dispersed her hugely negative perception from 2010 thanks to her stateswomanish performance with the floods I am sure she will be able to sell GC2018 as if she was flogging ice to eskimos. That whole 'we are Queenslanders' pitch will make many a Cane Toad dig deep emotionally for something like a win for 2018. By the way right now I would not want to be anyone involved with the NSW state of origin team...the Maroons are gonna come out at Lang Aquarium...oops, I mean Lang Park with a heart bigger than Phar Lap as doctored by an East German sports physician.

Rob, I prefer the term 'suffer you selfish ungrateful despotic bastards who have ficked over everything that was decent and respectable about what was supposed to be the beautiful game, and no one thinks that these thieving mongrels deserve any better than the massive shitefight they are all engaged in'. The petrodollar fuelled Qatari tail is now wagging the MaFIFA dog and Blather is floundering like a drunk at a wine tasting. They are stabbing each other in the back with so much energy it's a shame that they can't divert 0.1% into actual management of the game (you know, goal line technology, eradicating simulation, addressing the inequalities of wealthy European clubs, racism, crowd violence etc etc) and achieve something more than covering themselves in mutual shite.

What's the bet they'll find him with MaFIFA's Jack warner

Intriguing article about assassination plots against Delhi 2010 officials: