- Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
Miss India Universe 2001 Celine Jatly, right, is showered with a bottle of champagne by Viraf Sarkari, a delegate, after New Delhi, India won the bid to stage the 2010 Commonwealth Games at the Half Moon Hotel on Thursday.
Paul A. Reid, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
MEMBERS OF the Hamilton Commonwealth Games bid committee and sections of the Canadian press have not taken kindly to what they deem the 'unethical means' by which New Delhi won the right to stage the 2010 Games.
Delegates at the week-long Common-wealth Games Federation (CGF) Congress held at Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay voted overwhelmingly, 46-22, on Thursday evening to award the Games to the Indian capital following a hectic three days of lobbying and presentations by both delegations.
The Indian delegation was accused of 'buying the votes' after they made a last-minute offer of US$100,000 to each member of the CGF, payable following the 2006 Games in Melbourne, Australia, to help them prepare for the first Commonwealth Games to be held in India.
With the exception of 1966 in Kingston and Kuala Lumpur in 1998 - the first Asian city to host the Games, 15 of the 17 Games since 1930 have been held in Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand. Canada has hosted the event four times, including the first Games, which were in Hamilton.
DELHI BID COMMITTEE ACCUSED
Jagoda Pike, president of the Hamilton 2010 bid committee, accused the Delhi bid committee of acting unethically when it made the last-minute offer, totalling US$7.2 million, saying while it is within the rules, it was against the spirit of the rules.
According to some delegates and long-time observers however, this was nothing more than sour grapes as last-minute offers are par for the course.
Jamaican sports historian Jimmy Carnegie told The Gleaner on Thursday that while both presentations were "very impressive", they offered basically the same things.
The last-minute offer, he said, was not a surprise to him as "it happens at almost every Games because, let's face it, you are really bargaining to try and get the support of people and everybody has enormous costs these days so I wouldn't pay too much attention to it."
He described the accusations of vote buying, as "kind of harsh words but the point is that it could apply to both sides in any of these things."
Canada had offered a softer C$5 million in scholarships to the delegates and the opportunity to use the existing facilities starting next year.
Former Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA) president and International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) Area Representative Neville 'Teddy' McCook said both bids were competitive, maybe the most competitive in the history of the Commonwealth Games and added it was good for the event.
"This might be the most competitive bid that we have ever had and it is a good sign because it is a clear indication that the Commonwealth has come of age. When you have two cities that are putting out so much in order to host a championship of this magnitude, it means that the Commonwealth has reached such a level that it has parity with the major games, the Olympics and the World Championships, and it is a good sign."
"It is my considered view that final offerings by the delegation from India might have swung the ballots a bit because when one considers that sort of offer and the Canadians were able to garner 22 votes, it shows the strength of the Canadian bid," McCook said.
McCook, however, did not agree with the vote buying allegations.
"No, I don't agree, it is within the rules. You have until the voting session to make final commitments."
Chet Greene, one of the delegates from Antigua/Barbuda, said the last-minute offer did not help to sway the vote one way or the other as said he always got the impression the delegates were leaning towards the Indian bid - even before the voting session.
"Yes, before the vote, I think it was forgone conclusion that the bid from Delhi would have won," Greene said.
When asked what impact the financial offer had on the delegates, he said emphatically "none, absolutely none."
