The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) has said that the decision of Netball New Zealand (NNZ), Hockey New Zealand (HNZ) and the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) to engage their own security advice ahead of next month’s Delhi Commonwealth Games defies logic.
According to reports, that three sports bodies had commissioned independent security advice amid rising concerns about Delhi’s readiness for the mega event.
However, New Zealand team Chef de mission Dave Currie said: “Clearly the Athletes Federation [NZFA] are working with a range of sports... but to me there’s no logic at all.”
“They’ve chosen to do it, I don’t know why they’ve done it, but it’s certainly the sports that are working with the Athletes Federation,” the New Zealand Herald quoted Currie, as saying.
Currie further said that the NZOC has held a pre-Games briefing, and the advice it was getting from the Indian government and from the security agencies of England, Wales, Australia and Canada, was the best that could be received.
“If you think about it, you’ve got five countries and all the resources of their security agencies [are] feeding into a common pool. It defies logic that an independent company without the resources and the breadth of all of that can give any other view,” Currie said.
He also stressed that security fears were being heightened by “mischievous” speculation. “They [NZFA] say their belief is that governments are more concerned about other areas like [free trade agreements] and therefore won’t be as objective about it. I think that’s a nonsense really,” Currie said. “I am confident they will give us clear, objective information,” he added.