Expressing serious concerns over the Suresh Kalmadi-led organising committee’s ability to deliver a successful Commonwealth Games, CGF president Mike Fennell has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention to expedite preparations for the 2010 event in the Capital.

In a letter to the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CWOGC), a furious Fennell has asked Kalmadi to arrange a meeting with Prime Minister Singh next month.

“Our main concern relates to the capacity of the Organising Committee to deliver operationally. Preparations for the Games are significantly behind, so much so that the Commonwealth Games Federation is extremely worried about the Organising Committee’s ability to deliver the games to any comparable standard to that of the last two editions of the Games in Manchester and Melbourne,” Fennell wrote in the letter, a copy of which is with The Indian Express.

Fennell said that the vast majority of functional areas were considerably behind schedule and that an overhaul in the management culture and operation of the organising committee was needed, else the Games “will fail from an operational perspective”.

“The procurement processes within the committee are stagnant and the lack of empowerment of functional area management is retarding progress.

“With only a year to run until the Games, I feel I must personally brief the Prime Minister of India on the lack of preparations and to seek his input in developing an appropriate recovery plan. I have asked the Chairman of the Organising Committee to facilitate such a meeting on my return to Delhi in early October for our General Assembly.

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