Rafa
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Posts posted by Rafa
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Just saw a ton of pics over at skyscrapercity. Oh dear. Its a bit scary
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I cant find my seat. These GAmes are a failure.
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please don't entertain him. please lets just move on . place him on ignore.
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With FIFA's list of demands you would expect the South African 2010 LOC to be less humble and more vocal.
The CWG Federation has only tried to help where possible.
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Goodbye Kalmadi??
Congress for curbing Kalmadi
New Delhi October 17, 2009
The slanging match between 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi and the Commonwealth Games Federation bosses is becoming an embarrassment for the government.
So much so that it wants to take strong steps to curb Kalmadi to ensure things do not go out of hand.
With less than a year to go for the Games to begin, the sinking feeling in the Congress-to which Kalmadi belongs-and at the Centre is that time is being wasted on needless issues, and that a personality clash between Kalmadi and CGF CEO Mike Hooper could jeopardise the event.
There is a growing body of opinion in the Congress that it is time the Prime Minister stepped in to tame Kalmadi and salvage the situation before the nation faces international embarrassment.
Alarmed at the tardy progress on the Games infrastructure and Kalmadi's controversy, a Congress leader close to 10, Janpath suggested that the Prime Minister set up a high-level committee to monitor the Games' preparedness.
He also suggested the Prime Minister himself head it, or ask Congress president Sonia Gandhi or general secretary Rahul Gandhi to head the panel.
"The committee could also include noted sports administrators, MPs who are interested and are familiar with sports," he said. "The 1982 Asian Games was a small affair compared to the Commonwealth Games, yet then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had put her son and future Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in-charge of the organising and he did a commendable job." He said Kalmadi's ego clashes with Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit and sports minister M. S. Gill combined with his penchant to annoy senior officials like Mike Hooper have not gone down well with the establishment.
His seemingly casual attitude towards organising the Games is also a picking point.
For instance, a few days ago, when Commonwealth Federation officials from 70 countries were in the Capital for the General Assembly, Kalmadi chose to visit his Pune Lok Sabha constituency where Rahul Gandhi was to address election meetings.
Though he returned the same evening, government sources said it betrayed his causal approach to his responsibility.
Ever since CGF president Mike Fennel's criticism on Monday of New Delhi's tardy preparation, Indian officials have been smarting.
Kalmadi took the criticism as a personal attack and waited for the Indian Olympic Association executive committee meeting on Wednesday before deciding to launch an attack on Hooper.
He also opposed the independent technical review panel that the CGF wants to set up to oversee the preparations.
He then addressed the media on Thursday demanding Hooper be repatriated to the London office. Kalmadi not only called Hooper an impediment, but also said he is "not useful at all" and that he "has made no contribution in his two years here." Sources said senior government officials are asking why Kalmadi launched a personal attack on Hooper now. If Hooper was not doing any work, sources said, why wasn't it pointed out earlier? Even as calls for Kalmadi's sacking gained ground on Friday, sources said it is not easy to do so as he is the president of the Indian Olympic Association.
The norm is when a nation is allotted a big Games, it is the national Olympic Committee which contracts with the international federation.
But ever since Fennell said in August he feared a "partial failure" of the Games, people in government have woken up.
The latest appointment of Jarnail Singh, a retired secretary in the ministry of overseas Indian affairs, who took over as CEO of the CWG 2010 is being seen as the first step where Kalmadi's powers could be curbed. Insiders also hint at more top-level bureaucratic appointments soon.
"After all, it is a matter of national prestige and India's stature in the global arena," a Congress source said.
Senior Congress leader and former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar suggested the formation of an apex committee or a special organising committee to supervise all aspects of the Games.
"I am not the least surprised by the controversy," Aiyar said.
"When I met Hooper and Fennell in July 2006 in London, they expressed their deep apprehension.
Kalmadi was present then.
In 2007, Hooper repeated his concern when I met him on a flight to Kuala Lumpur." Aiyar said that even before he had become sports minister, a group of ministers headed by former HRD minister Arjun Singh had decided to set up an apex committee comprising experts from various fields, including infrastructure.
"We had roped in excellent people," Aiyar said, "but the Organising Committee refused to cooperate rendering the panel redundant." Calling the Organising Committee unprofessional, Aiyar suggested the special organising committee to be similar to that of the 1982 Asian Games, when the IOA president was removed from all functions and a team under late Rajiv Gandhi and then sports minister Buta Singh took over.
Aiyar said the legal hassles in removing Kalmadi are minimal even if he is the IOA chief.
"Even at this stage, an apex committee or a special organising committee can replace the existing OC. There were no legal hassles in 1982." Congress MP and former minister of state for external affairs Digvijay Singh expressed confidence that the Games preparation will be on schedule, but added that India could not manage a pre- Games trial. "A year before the Olympic Games, China had organised a pre- game tournament," he said.
He said the Games put at stake the prestige of one billion people.
"Ultimately we will be able to conduct the Games successfully," he said.
When asked if he agreed with Kalmadi's style of functioning, he said: "I don't think individuals matter. A whole body of eminent people are involved - the Prime Minister, sports minister, Delhi chief minister, bureaucrats, GoM and others." He added: " What matters is the nation, not an individual. After a successful Commonwealth Games nobody will remember who headed the Organising Committee, only the nation will be appreciated. We have one year to go. I am confident everybody will rise to the occasion."
Courtesy: Mail Today
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Screw the village. Bring in cruise ships to temporarily house athletes in Melbourne.
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This is shocking. How unprofessional and childish.
Not only does Delhi face organizational risks, it has operational risks, security risks, delivery risks in terms of venues, procurement risks, accommodation risks...not to mention in-fighting
Usually a "new frontier" has some of these risks e.g. tender corruption, crime, slow pace of construction BUT Delhi appears to have almost all of them.
This is actually more serious than I thought.
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Anyway, all this Delhi chaos makes Abuja 2018 even more unlikely.
I think the CWG Federation will go for safety. Probably back to OZ
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here we go again.
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Is a new thread necessart each time something happens in Vancouver ?
We love the news but keep articles grouped into one thread.
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They need somebody to blame so Mike Hoop Hoop it is
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Delhi 2010 demands sacking of CGames' CEO
(AFP) – 1 hour ago
NEW DELHI — Indian organisers of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi demanded Thursday that the event's New Zealand chief executive be sacked, setting up a row with the international federation.
"(Mike) Hooper has not been beneficial for the organising committee, he is of no use to us," Suresh Kalmadi, head of the Delhi 2010 organising committee told reporters. "We want the Commonwealth Games Federation to replace him."
Kalmadi also slammed the federation's insistence that an independent review body must oversee New Delhi's troubled preparations, which are far behind schedule with less than 12 months to go before the Games open on October 3.
"I am willing to take any expert suggested by the CGF on our co-ordination committee, but we feel there is no need to impose an additional technical committee on us," Kalmadi said in his pointed attack.
Hooper, the CEO of the London-based Commonwealth Games Federation, has been the senior link between the host city Delhi and the federation, and has lived in the Indian capital working on the event for the last two years.
On Monday CGF president Michael Fennell warned the city that it faced "an enormous challenge" to be ready for the event, which involves 6,000 top-class international athletes.
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South Africa would do the same for 2010 except
1. The website would probably not be updated and have old information
2. It would hard to find info
3. Info would be unrealiable
4. The website would not look good
etc
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I was kidding.
I'd like to holiday in Vancouver some day. All I'd need would be 2sqm to sleep and store my luggage.
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Fennel needed to make decisions sooner. All the warning signs were there a while back. Sending in a "review" team at this late stage will help but it was needed much sooner.
I still think venue construction IS an issue. I'm not suggesting that venues will not be complete before the Games but that one should be concerned when venues like the velodrome are behind London's velodrome, and at some sites you only see ten workers.
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Vancouver farts...open new thread
Vancouver farts again...open new thread.
Vancouver adds another brick...open new thread
Vancouver is cloudy today...new thread
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Is it just me or is a thread opened every time something mildly related to Vancouver 2010 happens?
Why not group news items under e.g. "Transport" or "Venues" or "Ceremonies"
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Love Toronto but I really think it should go to Bogota.
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abuja would do much better
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we have cauldron ready
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Melbourne has categorically said no to a possible 2010 CG. There was talk that if they were to be delayed until 2011 there was hope we could step in if necesary - however the CGF was very hesitant to even accept that as an option. Personally I think the Games will go on in India - however the question is will they be staged in October 2010 still?
Mo - I agree that the CGF (and the IOC) should have a team in place that can go in and take over the logistics side of organising the Games - and leave the capital works and base infrastructure to the locals. A "super team" of advisors if you will. Oh CGF - I am available with 8 weeks notice! Ha!
i will be your african assistant. see my "save the games" thread. share your ideas.
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If this outside help was channeled through the CWG Federation it would be a slightly different story.
One would assume that the CWG big wigs have all the organizational experience. So send in your own team well before things actually get tricky.
Take over key operational/organizational areas. Let the host city focus on the major infrastructure.
Run the ticketing, overlay, communications, admin etc.
Make the state government fund this contingency plan by threatening to send the Games to Melbourne
Delhi 2010
in Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games
Posted
Venue progress remains very much an issue.