World body chief slams organisation

FILA president Raphael Martinetti took a swipe at the organisers of the 2010 Commonwealth Games after technical and policing issues marred the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship....

FILA president Raphael Martinetti took a swipe at the organisers of the 2010 Commonwealth Games after technical and policing issues marred the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship for the second successive day.

Unhappy at being at the receiving end of the Delhi Police personnels whims again on Thursday,Martinetti said that if India wished to host a successful CWG,the mismanagement had to come to an end.

The trigger incident occurred when Martinetti and his wife tried to exit the venue immediately after Sushil Kumars semi-final win over North Koreas Yung Chung Song. Martinetti lost his cool after being stopped from leaving from just under the media pavilion and then forced his way out.

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Unhappy that he was hassled even though he had an All-Area Access card,the Swiss unleashed his fury on the authorities. Im the FILA president and this is an All-Area Access card. I can go anywhere I want with this. This cannot happen. I have been to 10 Olympics and this happens nowhere else, he told The Indian Express. Im really unhappy with the security.

It is to be noted that a member of his staff was stopped for close to an hour at the gates on Wednesday for carrying an oversized purse.

Martinetti didnt spare the organisers for the daily dose of mismanagement. The FILA chief said that the complaints from the technical delegates and the referees have been mounting. Power failure shut down the computerised scoring system across the three mats on Wednesday.

Nothing is going right. Yesterday the computers werent working. Things like these should not happen. Its not good,with India hosting the Commonwealth Games in the next four months,this has to stop, he said. Ive been receiving complaints from the technical delegates and the referee chiefs daily. Problems like these should have been resolved much earlier and not in the middle of a tournament. Hopefully well have no issues tomorrow.

WFI blames security,SAI

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Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president GS Mander,however,blamed the security personnels for all the operational problems. Security officials did not allow the technicians and engineers inside. We are the hosts and hence responsible for the competition aspect of the tournament. We are not supposed to look after the power back-up. That is SAIs prerogative, he said.

The WFI is supposed to bid for the junior Asian championship and the Olympic qualifying tournament in 2012 during FILAs December meet in Moscow. But with Martinetti unimpressed,this could scupper the plans.