By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year

February 9 - A company at the centre of a dispute over non-payment of fees for services provided at last year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi has rejected claims of non-performance by organisers and has demanded that they are paid more than $500,000 (£311,000).


Officials of last year's controversy-ridden Commonwealth Games said earlier this month partial payment to nine foreign companies have been withheld for "non-performance" without elaborating.
 
One of the companies, Event Knowledge Services (EKS), dismissed the allegations and wants the money it is claimed that it is owed for work carried out between January 1 and April 1 last year.
 
"EKS has never received any official or unofficial indication, written or verbal, that it was in breach of contract or that it was not performing satisfactorily against the agreed scope of work," EKS chief executive Craig McLatchey said.
 
"EKS strongly refutes allegations of non-performance and publicly confirms its rights to all outstanding payments due under its contract with the Organising Committee.

"EKS has today written to the chief executive of the Delhi 2010 Organising Committee requiring full payment and retraction of the false and misleading claims of non-performance."
 
Organising committee chief executive Jarnail Singh could not be reached for comment.

The Swiss-based organisation was contracted to provide knowledge management, consulting services and support systems for the Games.

The firm was born out of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) 1998 initiative to formalise the transfer of knowledge from one Olympic Games organiser to the next, beginning with Sydney Organising Committee for the 2000 Olympic Games.

"In the interest of assisting the Organising Committee and the success of the Commonwealth Games, EKS diligently continued to support the Organising Committee through the completion of its agreement in November 2010, despite ongoing payment default by the Organising Committee," said McLatchey.
 
"Despite this payment default, EKS successfully completed the workforce consulting project of hundreds of support deliverables, including contributing more than 50 deliverables above and beyond the agreement scope and providing significant person days to the project beyond those outlined in the agreement with the Organising Committee.
 
"EKS was regularly mentioned by the Organising Committee to its stakeholders and the public in a way as to contribute to the confidence the stakeholders would have in the Organising Committee’s ability to stage the Games, including in the successful delivery of a workforce."

McLatchey is one of the most respected figures in the Olympic Movement having been involved in it for nearly 25 years.

He was part of the senior leadership team for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and provided strategic support services for the Olympic Games of Athens, Turin, Beijing, Vancouver and Rio.
 
For his services to the 2000 Olympic Games McLatchey was awarded the Gold Olympic Rings by then IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and was made a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day Honours List 2002 for his services to the Olympic Games and sport.

"As a leading provider of consulting services and support to event owners and hosts including Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, Asian Games, Rugby, Football, Cricket, and other major client groups, Event Knowledge Services has never before been accused of non-performance, and EKS intends to stridently defend its reputation for providing its clients with world-class consulting support and services," he said.

Ric Birch, whose Spectak Production organised the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and is one of the nine unpaid companies named, has already begun taking legal action against the Games organisers.
 
Last month, organising committee chief Suresh Kalmadi and secretary general Lalit Bhanot were sacked as investigations into alleged corruption continue.

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