PM's nod for Afro-Asian Games

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

The much-postponed inaugural Afro-Asian Games will be held in Delhi from November 3 to 11, according to Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi, who said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has given the final go-ahead.

The Games were cleared after marathon meetings between the Prime Minister, IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and Sports Minister Uma Bharti.

Welcoming the decision, Afro Asian Games Council secretary-general Randhir Singh said the PM's decision has come as a shot in the arm for the sports community.

"We have full faith in the Prime Minister, who has given the go-ahead to stage the Games. We are confident that we will hold the Games successfully, even at such short notice," he said.

Kalmadi was ecstatic following the PM's decision. "We are happy that the PM has given the go-ahead; we will now stage the Games and show that the faith reposed in us if fully honoured.

"I am happy for the sports community that the Afro-Asian Games will now be on in November," he said.

Uma Bharti said the cost of staging the Games is likely to be around 700 million. She said it is a challenge for her and she's ready for it.

"January would have been the ideal time to start preparing for the Games; February would have been difficult, but now April seems impossible. Yet, I am confident of staging it smothly," she said.

Bharti clarified that she never aspired for the chairmanship of the Games organising commiteee, but now since it is entrusted upon her, she will take it up as a challenge.

She added that it will be her endeavour to not only successfully host the Games but also ensure a good performance from the Indian athletes.

"Because I know I'll be crucified if anything goes wrong," she said.

Earlier, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, official spokesman of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and a vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association, revealed in an exclusive conversation with rediff.com , "There is tremendous pressure on Vajpayee to clear the Games, and a formal announcement will be made shortly."

Malhotra, however, refused to be drawn into the controversy surrounding the government's proposed budget for hosting the Games.

Sources indicate that the IOA has been downplaying its budget for the Games. Projections show that a sum of around Rs 200 crore will need to be spent to host the Games -- and the IOA fears that if the government gets the full picture, it may decide that the expenditure is just not worth it.

Minister for Sports Uma Bharti meanwhile had asked the IOA to defer the Games for some time, citing the lack of infrastructure. She had meanwhile asked former sprint star P T Usha to prepare a report on the condition of the tartan track at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, and Usha in her turn reported to the minister that the track was in a hopeless state and would need to be replaced in its entirety -- a process that could take six months at the least..

The real reason for the controversy surrounding the staging of the Afro-Asian Games in November this year, however, revolves around a battle for control between Kalmadi and Malhotra. The former wants to chair the organizing committee, with Malhotra as his deputy. Malhotra is, quite simply, not interested.

"What is the point in accepting the position of deputy?" Malhotra demands. "I won't have any say in how things are run, and if things go wrong, then I will be made the scapegoat. I have asked the sports minister to be the chairman of the organising committee, and to keep me out of it."

IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh meanwhile dismisses the controversies swirling around the Games, laying the blame on "vested interests".

"People who do not want the Games to be held have been citing ridiculous amounts as projected expenditure," Singh says. "Their idea is to scare the government into cancelling the Games."