Perry Crosswhite, the chief executive of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA), said they could not force any athlete to compete there if they had fears for their security.

Earlier this year Australia's Davis Cup team forfeited a tie against India after refusing to play in Chennai because of fears over security.

Crosswhite said: "We have said to all the sports that the decision on whether athletes go or not is their decision.

"If some of them think it's not secure enough, they're going to make that decision.

"We can't guarantee anyone's safety.

"All we can say is we've checked it out and we think it's as safe and secure as it can be."
 

The organisers of the Games have promised foolproof security measures in place for the October 3-14 Games following last November's terror attacks in Mumbai which left 172 people dead and the attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team in Lahore in March.

Crosswhite said he would be surveying the situation closely later this month when he travels to New Delhi for the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly, where security will be top of the agenda alongside the delays in building the facilities and infrastructure needed to host the event, which is seen as a launch-pad for a potential bid for the 2020 Olympics.

He said: "They'll probably get some more people on board, throw some more resources at it, get the security right, get the venues finished.

"It will be a fantastic opening ceremony, while behind the scenes there will be a lot things that happen at the last minute.

"The sports will go ahead, the technical officials will make sure that works, the broadcasters will muddle through and somehow technology will catch up."

Unlike many, Crosswhite remains optimistic that the Games will be a big success, although he does not believe they will be as good as previous editions.

"Everybody will go to it and have a pretty good time and go away and say they did it the Indian way and it was a success.
 

"But overall maybe it won't be as good as Manchester [2002] or Melbourne [2006]."


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