New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Federation is feeling the heat over the Commonwealth Games preparations. The Indian Olympic Association executive board held an emergency meet on Wednesday to discuss the fallout of Commonwealth Games' President Mike Fennell's statements.
Fennell had earlier said that the Games preparation was not up to the mark.
But not everyone is criticising the Games' preparations. Australian Foreign Minsiter Stephen Smith says that criticism is always made in the run up to such big events.
"My observation is that things are on track. I have heard commentary which says that we are worried about the facility being behind schedule. These comments are always made in the run up to any Commonwealth Games or Olympic Games," he said.
After six days of inspecting the venues and the Games Village, Fennell had said that all the members of the CGF after Monday's General Assembly were convinced that the infrastructure would be ready in time for the necessary overlay installations and test events.
However, Fennell also said that there still remained a lot of "areas of concerns", specially at the operational level, and asked Organising Committee (OC) Chairman Suresh Kalmadi to overhaul the procurement process.
"Two years ago, I had told the OC that there was not much time left. With one year to go for the Games, I say time is your enemy, but together we can defeat it and I emphasise we can do it."
"Every single day is critical and every hour vital. It is in the spirit of togetherness that we will move forward hand in hand to the success of the Games," Fennell said at a press conference after the conclusion of the General Assembly.
"CGF will appoint a high-level technical review panel. The panel will comprise of a chairman and other members will be experts of their respective fields. The panel will come and meet every month. It will monitor and assist in the evaluation of all areas that we feel need attention," Fennell said.
"The panel will be empowered to call in other technical experts and to meet Commonwealth Games representatives."
"The panel will establish timeline and report monthly in an open and transparent fashion to all stakeholders, the Prime Minister of India, the government of Delhi, organising Committee and the CGF." he added.
"By having this review board report in the public domain, all involved with the Commonwealth Games can gain confidence that Delhi will be ready by September next year," Fennell had said.
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