Commonwealth Games close in New Delhi
Commonwealth Games chief Mike Fennell hailed Delhi 2010 a success despite the event getting off to a troubled start. India can be satisfied by its second place finish in the medal count, with 101 medals and more gold than England.
However, this success cannot hide the fact that the Games were plagued by endless difficulties and organisational disasters. Organisers have been subjected to a barrage of criticism, accusations of corruption, security shortcomings, incomplete facilities, and an athletes’ village described by some as “uninhabitable”, which led many athletes to stay away. The Commonwealth itself has also been criticised for ignoring one of its founding principles, respect for human rights. The Games Organising Committee rejected all the criticism.
Some of the last protests concerned the presence of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the closing ceremony, on the invitation of the Indian government.
Tamil groups organised demonstrations to try to stop him from attending the Games. The government of Sri Lanka has been accused of violating international laws during the civil war against the Tamil Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE). The president himself is at the centre of a controversy over the incarceration of General Fonseka.
During the closing ceremony, New Delhi officially handed over the Commonwealth flag to Glasgow (Scotland), host of the 2014 Games.
(Melani Manel Perera contributed to this article)
.png)
