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Report from Alan Cross, CGAJ Secretary General, on visit to Delhi for
the CGF General Assembly – 6th to 13th October 2009.

Tour of sites of Sports Venues and Games Village.

AC spent a day and one morning visiting many of the Games sports venue sites and the Games Village. He was assured by those CGA delegates that had visited these sites in May 2009 that ‘remarkable’ progress has been made in the last 5 months and most venues are now on schedule. Hopefully, most of the venues visited will be completed at the time of the visit of Paul Huddlestone for the Chef de Mission’s seminar in March 2010. Comments below are just summaries of observations made at the sites and many can be supported by photographs if members are interested. It is also planned that copies of selected overheads from presentations i.e. site plans, competition specifics, etc made at the venues will also be available on the CGF website HYPERLINK "http://www.thecgf.com" www.thecgf.com

J.N.Stadium: Venue for Opening and Closing Ceremony plus athletics, lawn bowls and weight lifting. Construction of stadium apparently on schedule. Site of lawn bowls venue identified but construction not started. It will be sited NE of the stadium and include four 40m x 40m synthetic areas i.e. 2 for TV Games. There are two training venues (each with 2 greens) with synthetic surfaces nearby. Dale Sports are supplying the carpet and will also oversee the construction of the base. Test event planned for 6th to 10th April 2010. There are 8000 workers working in 3 shifts around the clock in order to complete the stadium facilities and handover in June 2010 in time for test events.
Games Village: One block completed ready for venue tour. The 34 tower blocks will provide 8000 beds and are designed to have apartment units of five twin-bedded en-suite rooms plus a lounge/diner and kitchen. All have air conditioning. Chris Jenkins of Wales is negotiating on our behalf to select the best tower blocks for most of the UK CGAs to share. England are making their own arrangements. All rooms are of a generous size and well furnished. Other facilities e.g. medical centres, training venues, etc at the Village are not constructed yet.The handover of the site to the Organising Committee (OC) is due to take place in June 2010.

I.G. Sports Complex: Venue for wrestling, gymnastics and the velodrome (4000 seats). All are still building sites which are on schedule for their proposed completion dates.
Dr. SPM Aquatics Complex: Covered competition pool with a 6 lane 50m warm-up pool. Seating for 5100. For further info please refer to CGF website. Test event planned for 24th to 29th April 2010

Talkatora Boxing Stadium: One of the few refurbished venues that is near completion. Again, as with all venue visits excellent welcome and detailed presentation.
RK Khanna Tennis Complex: A refurbishment of an existing tennis club. Work well on schedule and due to be ready for ITF event in May. To include a centre court, No.1 court; 6 match courts and 6 practice courts. Seating for over 5000.

Siri Fort Sports Complex: Venue for squash and badminton. Test events planned for April/May. For details of the planned facilities for both refer to the CGF website.
General: There is every confidence from the more seasoned CWG delegates that, with India’s available workforce (including a mix of men and women workers) all the sports venues and the Games Village will be completed according to the published time schedules and will provide a marvellous legacy for the future if organisational and management structures are in place after the Games to maximise their use. No expense is being spared in providing these high class international facilities which would double for an Olympic Games if ever awarded to Delhi.

SUMMARY OF MAIN POINTS ARISING FROM THE AGENDA OF THE MEETING OF
THE EUROPEAN COMMONWEALTH GAMES ASSOCIATIONS HELD ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10th 2009

Commonwealth Youth Games 2011. Geoff Karran, Chairman and Joyce Hall, Administrator of CYG 2011, reported on progress for the Youth Games and informed the meeting that the CGF would be releasing information on team allocations for CGAs by Christmas 2009. They welcomed CGAs to arrange inspection visits to the IOM and informed the meeting that the Australian CGA would be visiting in May 2010 and that others may wish to visit at the same time. In a private conversation with Joyce Hall, I was able to establish that some of the bigger rugby nations i.e. New Zealand, Samoa, etc., had decided not to participate in the rugby7s event and that both Guernsey and the IOM would be entering teams. A subsequent decision by the CGF EB to make this an 8 team event will mean that, with the exception of the host CGA, the selection of the other 7 teams will be made on the World ranking at that time.

Glasgow 2014. John Scott CEO, and Gordon Arthur joined the meeting and gave a short report on their preparations for the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. They reminded delegates that 70% of the sports venues were currently in place and that all other building works were on schedule including the temporary adaptation of Hampden Park to accommodate an athletics venue.

Delhi 2010. General Discussion. Mike Hooper, the CGF’s CEO and Amar Singh Wazir, the Delhi OC’s European Region Co-ordinator were present for this discussion which centred, not on Delhi security arrangements and their ability to meet schedules with their building programme, but on organisational and management issues such as ticketing, accreditation, management of venues, etc. This is the area which is of greatest concern to CGA delegates. Mike Hooper also agreed to place copies of selected overheads from presentations made at venue site visits on the CGF website i.e. HYPERLINK "http://www.thecgf.com" www.thecgf.com so that they were available to all. Chris Jenkins, Wales, recommended that the flow of information from the CGF on all matters concerning Delhi OC’s preparations should be widened and sent to all CGAs.

Delhi 2010 Baton Relay – Annemaree Lavella reported that all visits to European CGA’s as part of the first section of the relay around the 71 CGA territories were in place with the Baton being launched by HRH The Queen from Buckingham Palace on 29th Oct.

Mike Fennel, CGF President, joined the meeting and reported on the leaked email to members of the CGF Executive Board with regards to his concerns on the lack of co-ordination between the key committees of the Delhi OC. He felt that the leak had been timely and had raised the OC’s awareness to the importance of now focusing on more central issues.

General Assembly 2011 – Robert McVeigh informed members that N.Ireland had submitted a bid to the CGF EB to host the Assembly. See the report of the General Assembly for an update.

Date and venue for next European CGA’s meeting - The CGA of Guernsey has agreed to host the next meeting on 23rd to 25th April 2010. Peter Syrett, CGAG President, extended a welcome to all European CGA delegates and their partners to Guernsey for that weekend meeting.

Any other business – it was noted that many CGAs had received letters from the High Commissions of New Zealand and Australia seeking their support in suspending Fiji from future Games. The Chairman felt that it was most inappropriate that Government Offices of these countries should be contacting CGAs and not the Government Officials of Commonwealth Countries. The CGF Executive Board would be making a decision on the suspension and reporting back to the General Assembly on Monday.

Report from the CGF 2009 General Assembly.

CGF Workshop.
Athlete’s Representative – Dr. Lesley Rumball of the CGF informed Conference delegates of the progress that she had made. She was approached by me at last year’s General Assembly for material to assist CGAs in establishing the position of an athlete’s representative on a CGA Council. This material has now been approved by the CGF for distribution to CGAs and will be discussed by the CGAJ Officers in the near future to decide how and if we should investigate the appointment of such a post on
our Council.

Zeus update – Richard De Groen of the CGF has been involved since his appointment in the training of personnel from a number of CGAs in the use of this data base. It is particularly useful for holding information on all past, present and potential Commonwealth Games athletes and is an invaluable tool for General Team Managers in the build up to a Games. We, in Jersey, have not thought that it was necessary, due to the small size of our Team, to adopt this package but now believe that it will be necessary in preparing for the 2014 Glasgow Games. The next training programme for European CGAs is not likely to be until 2011 and we should, at that stage, decide on the most appropriate person within the CGA to attend that course. The cost to the Association is negligible and will only involve training and accommodation hopefully at a UK venue .
Chef De Mission’s Seminar in Delhi from 8th-12th March 2010 – I have registered both Paul Huddlestone and Paul Du Feu for this seminar and the outline programme for the seminar is, or will be placed on the CGF website.

Athlete eligibility – a subject very close to the CGAJ’s heart. John Eades, CGF Operations Director led this session and attempted to clarify Article 24 of the CGF’s Constitution.
He suggested that in the case of those countries that were unable to provide a definition for a citizen or subject, then he was prepared to join in a discussion with their Attorney General to agree on the appropriate wording.

He also reminded members that for an athlete that was not born in the CGA of their choice for selection purposes, he/she had to be resident for a period of five years prior to the Opening Ceremony of the Games, to be considered for selection. This had become a policy decision of the CGF and could be considered, if proposed by a CGA, as an amendment of Article 24. It was suggested by him that if the International Governing Body for that appropriate sport recognised a shorter period of residence, then the CGF EB would consider the acceptance of that.

He also explained the procedure for changing allegiance from one CGA to another and that this required the submission to the CGF of a letter from both the CGA, from which the athlete wishes to be released, and also from the International Governing Body for that sport.

Travel arrangements to Delhi – Mr. VK Verma from the Delhi OC explained the options open to CGA’s with regard to the travel grant to attend the 2010 Games. Indicative fares had been provided for each CGA and the number of team places that had been calculated for each CGA. These prices would be adjusted and confirmed in November when all IATA fares for 2010 had been agreed. CGAs have the option of accepting these Air India fares (the Official Delhi 2010 Games carrier) or finding alternative airline fares. Jersey has been allocated 44 fares at the Air India rate of the indicative £272 rate (i.e. Jersey – Delhi return). The figure of 44 is based on the average size of Team Jersey over the past two Games. Any additional seats required on these flights will be charged at the rate to be agreed by Air India. VK Verma informed delegates that if they wished to use a different airport from the established Air India routes then this would be considered provided the CGA or CGAs could ensure that 300 seats on that flight would be filled. Jersey will therefore consider the option of combining with other UK CGAs and flying out of Gatwick, for example, in preference of the current option of Heathrow.

The workshop finished with short presentations by Gold Coast City, Queensland, Auckland, NZ and Abuja, Nigeria - all cities that are considering submitting bids to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Alan Cross
CGAJ Secretary General

SUMMARY OF MAIN POINTS ARISING FROM THE AGENDA OF THE MEETING OF
THE CGF’S 2009 GENERAL ASSEMBLY HELD ON MONDAY OCTOBER 12th 2009

The meeting was attended by the CGF Vice Patron Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and took place in the Ashok Hotel, New Delhi. The main issues discussed, and decisions taken, were as follows -:

The suspension of Fiji from future Commonwealth Games. Further to the recent political changes in Fiji, the CGF EB recommended to delegates the full suspension of Fiji from Commonwealth Games. This decision is in line with the Commonwealth Council of Ministers. The CGF President, Mike Fennell is to appeal to CHOGOM (Commonwealth Heads of Governments) on behalf of the sportsmen and women of Fiji.

The CGF Treasurer informed the meeting that the current running costs of the Federation were £3m and that increased costs over the past year have arisen due to staff increases at the CGF HQ and the employment of International Security Agents.

Report from the CGF Sports Committee – the Sports Committee has recommended the adoption of the new boxing categories with a reduction of 11 to 10 categories. They also plan to meet with officers of the International Federations (IFs) to consider moving some Category 3 sports (i.e. recognised CGF sports but not currently included in Games) to Category 2. This move would provide host cities with a wider range of sports to choose from. After the 2010 Games, the CGF’s Sports Committee plan to undertake a full review of all its sports and events within each sport.

Report from the Glasgow 2014 CEO - John Scott reported that with 70% of all sports venues for the 2014 Games in place they are now focused on the new-build constructions of the Athlete’s Village, the National Indoor Sports Arena and the Scottish National Arena. They will have a new website in March 2010 and have just completed the appointment of all key senior member members. The construction work on the extension of the M74 and M8 involving the building of 14 bridges over main rail lines and a heavy industrial area is ahead of schedule and, when completed, will reduce travel time in and out of the city.

Regional VP’s Reports – reports were read by 5 of the 6 Regional VPs. The Oceania VP was unable to attend and submit a report due to the recent tsunami in Samoa.

CYG2011 in Isle of Man - Juliet Holt, IOM CGA President, and Geoff Karran, CYG2011 CEO, reported on their progress in planning the next Youth Games. They had secured 6 main sponsors for the Games and each sponsor had identified one of their employees to act as a CGF Regional Co-ordinator. Sally Waugh ( HYPERLINK "mailto:sally.waugh@manx.telecom.com" sally.waugh@manx.telecom.com) and Andrew Bridson ( HYPERLINK "mailto:andrew.bridson@manx.telecom.com" andrew.bridson@manx.telecom.com) are both responsible to the European CGAs. Geoff also reported on the appointment of Joyce Hall as the Games Administrator. She is based in CYG2011’s new offices at the National Sports Centre. Final numbers on the team allocations will be made by the CGF before Christmas 2009 when the response to rugby7’s has been finalised.

2017 Commonwealth Youth Games – Submissions from CGAs wishing to bid for the 2017 CYG are to be submitted no later than 31st July 2010.

Delhi 2010 Progress Report – details provided on sports venues and the Games Village are to be found on a separate report. Excellent presentation by a rep from the Delhi Police. Interesting facts e.g. 3150 new low-floor coaches/buses are to be provided for the Games; 5m potted plants; 150 ambulances will be in use; 450 doctors will be trained and distributed around the venues, $7.54m is the cost of equipment for all 17 sports, etc., etc. Main concern still for issues such as ticketing, accreditation, management of all venues. The fear is that with all the effort being currently focussed on construction of venues, overarching issues regarding organisation will be overlooked. There were strong concerns on this expressed by Canada and England while a number of delegates from CGAs in developing countries felt that the concern and criticism was unjustified.

Delegates also expressed their concern on the lack of information coming from the CGF. Mike Fennell accepted the criticism and proposed placing the reports from the CGF Co-ordination Commission (i.e. the body responsible for overseeing/monitoring progress) on to the CGF website so that they would become public knowledge. Delegates were informed that the launch of ticket sales to CGAs would commence on 15th November 2009 and that a 10% commission on sales would be offered to CGAs.

The venue for the 2011 CGF General Assembly – bids had been submitted by 4 CGAs namely Barbados, Kenya, N. Ireland and St. Kitts and Nevis. Both Kenya and Barbados had subsequently withdrawn and following a paper vote, St. Kitts and Nevis were awarded the General Assembly.

Alan Cross
CGAJ Secretary General