 Stanley says security will be monitored throughout the Games |
New Zealand are still committed to competing in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi but will not take part if there are any issues over security. After an attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team in Lahore, Pakistan, in March 2009 safety issues have been a concern.
New Zealand Olympic Committee president Mike Stanley said: "If the New Zealand Government can't advise us that our athletes are secure, then we won't go." Athletes are due to start arriving in the Indian capital on 25 September. Six policemen and a bus driver were killed when the Sri Lankan cricket team were ambushed in Lahore. Seven cricketers and assistant coach Paul Farbrace were injured.
Sri Lanka only agreed to take part in the tour to Pakistan after the Indian team pulled out with security concerns after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008. Security on the subcontinent has been under scrutiny since the events that left 101 people dead and 287 injured as well as the incident in Lahore. But Games organisers have promised a high level of security. Seven New Zealand police officers would join a multinational contingent of more than 40 police from Canada, Australia and Britain for the event which starts on 2 October. New Zealand's chef de mission Dave Currie will undertake a final inspection of facilities and security in Delhi on 14 September.
Stanley said there was no deadline for a final decision on participation: "This could be right up until the start of the Games and it will be monitored [throughout]. "It's just one of those things we have to be vigilant about and we have to take it on a day-to-day basis."
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