Cloud over Rotherham athletes Commonwealth Games hopes

NINE Rotherham-based athletes were heading for the Commonwealth Games to represent England  this week - as doubts were raised as to whether the team would take part at all.

The nine, cyclists Russ Davey and Ben Scott, swimmers, Jo Roebuck and Becky Turner, archer Amy Oliver, pole vaulter Luke Cutts and table tennis players Hannah Hicks, Joanne Parker and Paul Drinkhall are all due to compete when the games kick off in Dehli next month.

But the games were in chaos today after the athletes village was condemned as "unfit for habitation" and a bridge being constructed near the main site collapsed.

The Commonwealth Games Commission has demanded urgent action by the Indian Government to improve conditions at the village.

England's Commonwealth team bosses have raised concerns about "plumbing, electrical and other operational details", while New Zealand, Scotland, Canada and Northern Ireland have demanded their teams be put up in hotels if their accommodation is not ready.

New Zealand's chef de mission Dave Currie has even suggested that the Games themselves may be in doubt.

The media in India are reporting that only 18 out of 34 residential towers are complete, although the games are due to run from 3-14 October.

But the organisers of the games claim the facilities will be "excellent".

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