Barry Maister, who took over as the secretary general of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) when Hooper left the job to become the new chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), has claimed that much of the situation in the Indian capital could have been avoided if Delhi organisers had been monitored more closely.

Maister joined the International Olympic Committee (IOC) earlier this year and was recently appointed as a member of their Evaluation Commission for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, a role that will involve him being part of the delegation that will travel next year to Annecy, Munich and Pyeongchang to inspect their bids.

"We are sending a team for a week to look at each site," said Maister, who won an Olympic gold as part of New Zealand's hockey at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

"It consists of IOC members and technical officials in each sport.

"They probe with a week of questions, looking at transport plans, venues and budgets to make sure a city can deliver.

"The process needs to be stringent.

"That is what the CGF must learn from this.

"They need to ascertain if a country has the capability.

"India does, but needed to be tested more for its ability to deliver on time.

"What they showed us in the [Athletes] Village last week was unacceptable and inexcusable. 

"They [the organisers and the CGF] deserve to be slammed for it.

"We sent a delegation to the Village four months ago and did not see the tower we were going to be in, nor did any other country, nor did the evaluation commission who went to check out the Village.

"The CGF has a lot to answer for in that regard.

"It was their job to ensure the Village was ready for habitation."



Maister's criticism echoes that of John Coates, the President of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and a member of the IOC's ruling Executive Committee, who last week claimed that India should never have been awarded the Games.

Mike Stanley, the President of the NZOC, has also joined in the criticism.

"Mike Hooper has been based in Delhi for some time to oversee these very things," he said.

"I don't think we were being naive relying on that sort of information to base our judgments on.

"We had a full  expectation resources would be applied to the project to get it right and that hasn't happened.

"It is the organising committee's responsibility to deliver, and the CGF's responsibility to see jobs are ticked off."

But Hooper claims that the CGF are not to blame for the fiasco that has unfolded in Delhi and has hit back at his fellow New Zealanders.

In his defence he has cited the row he had last year with Suresh Kalmadi, the chairman of the Delhi Organising Committee, which led to calls for the CGF to send Hooper home from Delhi after his criticism stung local officials so badly.

"Go back and google it," Hooper said.

"Mr Kalmadi was trying to get me thrown out of the country because I was too outspoken and pushing them.

"We've consistently gone on about the safety of the Village and venue buildings.

"We were trying not to hide things.

"So I'm frustrated these comments are now being made.

"They have been fully appraised on an ongoing basis, like at our general assembly last year.

"You would have to be blind not to see the CGF pushing hard to get the Organising Committee and the Government agencies to deliver the venues and village on time. It's nonsense to say we have not maintained pressure, despite having a staff of five in Delhi.

"We were naturally concerned with delays in finishing the venues.

"The organising committee did not get them fully signed off with building completion certificates until September 6.

"That's unacceptable, but if Mike and Barry are saying they knew nothing about this and we should have pushed harder, I disagree.

"We have done everything possible, including fully briefing our members.

"We put out a release to members 16 weeks ago, saying the key issue was getting the Village finished.

"The criticism about the state we find ourselves in is fair because the Village should have been ready on September 16, but you can't [with the Indian Organising Committee] make a horse drink after you have led it  to water.

"I'm disappointed people are starting to play these finger-pointing games.

"Let's have the post-mortems later.

"I know the CGF has done everything they can to encourage, cajole and get people moving."

New Zealand's athletes are due to leave for Delhi on Tuesday (September 28) having pushed back their original departure due to doubts over the Village.

Maister has claimed that the NZOC were misled by the Indian organisers and believe that Hooper and CGF are culpable.

"A year ago we stood inside a finished unit and they said, 'This is how it is going to be'," said Maister.

"We took them at their word.

"Six months later we were again denied access to the rest of the Village, but it was under the presumption the CGF would ensure delivery of the Games.

"In retrospect we should have pushed harder early on to see our facilities."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected] 


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