NEW DELHI/ LONDON: Embarrased by construction delays and missed deadlines, Commonwealth Games organisers came under more pressure today with England and Wales setting a 24-hour deadline to sort out the mess while Scotland delayed their arrival for the event which has seen four more star athletes pulling out.
With more participating countries expressing concern over Delhi's preparedness for the October 3-14 mega-event which has generated negative publicity, the collapse of a false ceiling at the weightlifting arena at the showpiece Nehru stadium only compounded the misery for the embattled organisers.
The deadline by England and Wales and the star pull outs came on the eve of Commonwealth Games Federation chief Michael Fennell's stock-taking visit to Delhi.
England admitted their participation is "on a knife-edge" while Scotland athletes delayed their departure to Delhi and Wales also set a deadline of tomorrow evening for the organisers to certify all venues and Games Village are safe and secured.
The foreign athletes' apprehension came in the wake of a footbridge collapse near the main venue of the Games, the Jawarhar Lal Nehru stadium yesterday, which injured 27 people, and the unhygenic state of the Athletes' Village -- described by many participating countries as "unfit for human habitation".
In the wake of the shoddy preparations, Commonwealth Games England chairman Sir Andrew Foster admitted that they will have to make a quick decision -- within 24 to 48 hours -- on whether to take part in the Games.
"I think the next 24 to 48 hours is the critical time which will tell us whether the Village -- which is where the main problem is now -- has got enough accommodation for everybody to come into it. I think we're at an absolutely vital time (regarding) whether the major teams go," Foster said.
"Our staff have been round all 17 sports venues and they are in good order, so the key remaining feature which there's a problem with is the village. The other problems have been resolved. It's a situation that hangs on a knife-edge. It is not certain and we will not be sending our team unless we are confident," he said.
Foster, however, was still hopeful that the Indian government and the organising committee would be able to save the Games.
"The village still has a lot of remedial work needing to be done. But it is the case in India, when building projects are coming to a conclusion, that that is a typical way that things happen and that is quite a big cultural difference.
"The safety of the athletes has to be our primary concern. But equally, we cannot just respond to that alone, we have to evaluate the whole thing together and that is what we are doing."
Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Michael Cavanagh said that they have delayed the departure of the first party of 41 athletes, which included the boxing, rugby sevens and wrestling contingent.
"By delaying the arrival of our athletes by a few days, we hope to give the Delhi 2010 Organising Committee the necessary time to address the concerns that have been raised by both the Commonwealth Games Federation and the countries which arrived early," Cavanagh said.
"We have discussed this with the sports involved and are in agreement that this is the best course of action under the circumstances. Whilst this is an untimely alteration to their plans, it will ultimately cause less disruption to their final training and preparation than if they were to arrive in the Games Village which is not yet fit for purpose and fully functional.
To add to the woes of the organisers, Wales is also considering its options after giving the OC a deadline of tomorrow evening to confirm if all venues and the Village are fit for purpose.
A Team Wales statement read, "The health and safety of our team has always been our top priority - which is why we've been so desperate to resolve the issues in the Games Village.
With yesterday's news of the bridge collapse and now the roof of the weightlifting venue, we have to take a step back and examine how safe it is to bring athletes into this environment.
"We have given the Organising Committee a deadline of this evening to confirm if all venues and the Games Village are fit for purpose. On the basis of that announcement, we will be contacting athletes via our team managers and advise them of the latest position and will issue a further update."
With just 11 days to go for the start of the event, the shoddy preparations and security concens have triggered the withdrawal of two high-profile athletes besides pull out threats from some participating nations.
Within hours of CGF chief Fennell's scathing attack on the organisers, world champion Australian discus thrower Dani Samuel led the pull out bandwagon citing Sunday's gun attack on two Taiwanese nationals and the recent outbreak of dengue fever here.
Another world champion, England's Phillips Idowu, who was to defend his 1500m gold here, followed suit, saying that his safety is more important than a medal.
Hours before Idowu's pull out, compatriots -- Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu and Melbourne Games 1500m gold medallist Lisa Dobriskey -- also decided to skip the Games due to injuries, seriously depleting the star presence in the CWG after the withdrawal of Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Chris Hoy, David Rudish, Shelly-An Fraser among others.
Interestingly, despite the scathing criticism from the CGF chief, the Organising Committee said that the matter was not something for which it should be ashamed of.
"It (cleanliness of Games Village) is not such a big issue which we should be ashamed of. This will not affect the Games. For us and for you it is clean. But they (the foreign countries) have a different standard of cleanliness.
"It is a matter of difference in perception," Secretary General of the OC, Lalit Bhanot had said.
The build-up to the Games, starting on October 3, have been marred by a series of controversies, including corruption allegations against the organisers, threats of terror attack and dengue fever.
The opposition, BJP, meanwhile, asked Prime Minster Manmohan Singh to take a "personal interest" in hosting the Commonwealth Games as the OC , Central and Delhi governments had adopted a "casual and careless approach".
"The Group of Ministers (GOM on CWG), the Government of India and the Delhi government cannot escape from their failures and accountability. The Prime Minister should himself step-in and assure the nation that everything will be done timely and every care will be taken," senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said.
The Congress said all lacunae will be plugged and that the country will hold a successful Games.
"We are deeply concerned. If there is culpability and allegations, it will be looked into. But now, we have to show to the world that India can hold a successful Commonwealth Games. All lacunae will be plugged," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said.