Sunday Times Editorial In a week when South Africa was officially lauded by Fifa for having hosted the "best-ever soccer World Cup", it is distressing to learn about the level of India's lack of preparation to host the Commonwealth Games due to start next Sunday.
Distressing because it is likely to undo the gains that have been made by the developing world in getting the West to release its stranglehold on tournaments of world stature.
It took a lot of fighting and lobbying to get South Africa to host the World Cup - with Western detractors citing the lack of infrastructure, preparedness and security as their excuse.
In preparation for the World Cup, South Africa had to build from scratch nine stadiums, over and above other forms of infrastructure. India, by comparison, had to focus on delivering just one central venue, and an athletes' village.
Its performance on both fronts has been shambolic: recently released pictures of the athletes' village show toilets and sleeping quarters clearly unfit for human habitation. A footbridge at the Jawaharlal Stadium, the main venue for the games, collapsed this week.
It's not for lack of money that India finds itself in this jam. It's all sheer incompetence and a failure to take the international community seriously.
The conditions in India have prompted leading countries to postpone the departure of their athletes.
If developing countries do not take themselves seriously, their incompetence will be grist to the mill of Westerners who have fought to maintain the status quo.
We can't afford to undo the strides that have been made in "internationalising" tournaments such as the World Cup, Olympics and Commonwealth Games. Shame on you, India.
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