May 11 - There are people in the main lobby of Marylebone’s Landmark Hotel who appear ill at ease – the young man in the pinstripe suit, for instance, fretting over his mobile; the unlikely, rather scruffy individual sitting avoiding everyone’s eye next to main entrance. But Sir Andrew Foster is not one of them.

As this casually dressed figure steps into the airy space within the hotel’s vast, hollow centre he is patently relaxed amidst the sturdy palm trees, faintly chinking tea-cups and sonorous grand piano.

It turns out this is a regular meeting place for the man currently charged with transforming the Commonwealth Games Council for England – or Commonwealth Games England (CGE) as it has now been re-branded – with a view to it making an impressive showing at next year’s Delhi Games, the last big multi-sport event before the 2012 London Olympics, and at the 2014 Games in Glasgow, where there are high hopes of riding a wave of Olympic success.

These, then, are critical times for the event that began as the British Empire Games in 1930. And Foster’s appointment 18 months ago as the CGE’s first external chairman was the signal that the organisation, in his words, was seeking to "up its game."

Now deputy chairman of the Royal Bank of Canada, he has had wide experience within business and public service – as chief executive of the Audit Commission from 1992–2003 – and more recently, sport, having chaired the review group that recast UK Athletics in 2004.

But Foster (pictured) needs all of his experience these days as he faces the constantly fluctuating questions of whether Delhi will be in a position to host a safe and secure Games in completed facilities, questions which have become more pressing in the wake of the attacks on the Sri Lankan cricketers in India, the Mumbai attacks, the recent refusal of Australia to allow their Davis Cup tennis players to compete on the subcontinent and the forced postponement of the Commonwealth Shooting Championships because the venue has not been completed.

The CGE chairman is just about to start a round of consultations with every Commonwealth sport operating in England to monitor the levels of concern and take on board any suggestions and requests. And he anticipates that security and facilities will figure high on every governing body’s list, along with other enquiries about medical and transport facilities.

"At our last board meeting we heard a report from Mike Hooper, the Commonwealth Games Federation’s chief executive," Foster recalls as he pours out two cups of traditional English breakfast tea – entirely fitting to his new purpose. "I was saying to him, 'Come on, if I have to persuade all the different team set-ups to come to Delhi you’ve got to be straight with us, we’ve got to know what’s really going on.'

‘He said to us unequivocally that the completion of venues is a concern but he was now pretty confident the Indians were throwing everything at it, and even though they are behind schedule things should be finished later this year.

‘"As far as the security situation is concerned, at this moment we are placing reliance on getting regular reports from the top level security consultants the Federation have hired in Delhi. Informally I have started to meet with potential sponsors, some of whom are companies with big Indian as well as English interests. And the word I am getting from them is that the Indian Government will absolutely flood Delhi with the Army to such an extent that there will be an adequate level of cover for athletes and spectators."

 

Delhi will deliver a "wonderful Games"

Foster, who saw for himself the way India delivered the recent Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, says he is convinced the Delhi will deliver "a wonderful Games."

From his perspective, however, Delhi will be a preparation rather than a consummation, a test of how the Games themselves, and England in particular, can develop.

"There has been a danger of the Commonwealth Games being a good and positive experience but at times being seen as falling behind a bit, or not being on the main track. Our intention is to reassert the importance of the Commonwealth Games, and to make sure they are useful and attractive to our athletes.

"I do absolutely think it’s the best opportunity the Games have had to do so in decades. And the reasons are several-fold. It is the proximity to London 2012, and to Glasgow 2014, It is the fact that while there are concerns about Delhi, the next Games are going to be very different - very rich, very exciting. And the whole of the Indian nation will get behind them."

As Foster speaks, it becomes clear that he is not the only person for whom this hotel is a regular meeting place. He loses his thread temporarily to stare at a figure making his way smartly over to one of the neighbouring tables – a fellow knight of the realm, Alex Ferguson.

Soon the entire Manchester United squad has passed through the lobby, up the stairs to the first floor balcony which overlooks the tables and chairs and into a room which has clearly been booked as a VIP suite as part of their final preparations for their Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal later that evening.

Uniformly clad in dark blazers, white shirts and red-and-white ties, all clutching their regulation man-bags, the men who are about to dismember Arsene Wenger’s Champions League ambitions move with the practised neutrality of the famous. And Sir Andrew is fully exercised in marking all the personnel – the sleek figure of Cristiano Ronaldo strolling alongside his Portuguese compatriot Anderson, with his long, braided hair; the unassuming Paul Scholes, Mr Ordinary; and Wayne Rooney, who always looks as if he would far rather be wearing a football shirt.

"New blood"

 

For all his business background, Foster is clearly a fan – a "sports nut", in his own phrase.

But there is nothing starry-eyed about the way he is setting about transforming the CGE. Having managed the extraordinary feat of persuading the board to reapply en masse for their own jobs, with the certain prospect that not all of them will be successful, Foster is about to reinvigorate the organisation with what he terms "new blood" – while acknowledging that he is not about to jettison all the wealth of experience currently therein.

Sir Chris Chataway, who has given sterling service as president since 1990, is stepping down, as reported exclusively on insidethegames yesterday, and a well-known, recently retired sporting figure – whose identity will be revealed later this month - is about to take up the position. Foster also plans to advertise for a new Chef de Mission, with Ann Hogbin, who has previously combined that role with that of Team Manager, now concentrating on the latter position.

 

"The other thing we are going to do," Foster adds, "is to make a major virtue of our Englishness. It’s crazy to think that when the England team went to the last Commonwealth Games in Melbourne they did so without a main sponsor. When you consider the growth of English rugby and the England football team, and the major sponsors they have, we’ve been missing a trick, frankly.

"If you look at the tremendous support that the Scottish, Irish and Welsh teams get, I truly believe that the growth of the flag of St George in a positive way is there to be captured. So we are going to be making much more of the flag of St George and the red rose.

"Because as the organisation grows we want it to take responsibility for itself, and we think there is a good product, and the good product is Englishness.

"This is the multi-sport English team. When it comes to the Olympics, as we know, it’s Team GB. What we are looking to absolutely boost here is an English team for English people to feel positive about. We are going to be absolutely unapologetic and push hard to market ourselves. We’ve already seen recently how people like Archbishop John Sentamu have spoken about sport rescuing the flag of St George, and Boris Johnson has also asked why it is the English don’t promote themselves. I actually feel there is a real groundswell in the country saying why don’t we project ourselves more strongly?"
 

This autumn we will relaunch ourselves as a brand. If we have people involved of the status of our president, if we have a very professional set-up and really say this is the last podium before London and after London it’s Glasgow, actually we are a cheap investment for a sponsor…’

The Manchester United players have already filed out towards their sporting destiny, and Foster, likewise, takes his leave.

Outside, as the darkened-windowed coach bearing the team slides out onto the Marylebone Road en route for the Emirates Stadium, a figure dances alongside them, offering a manic thumbs up with both hands before turning away with a beatific expression on his face. The scruffy individual looks suddenly in his element now. Foster would recognise it – the transforming power of sport…