NZOC bides time on CWG participation, PM hints Kiwis will go

Wellington, Sep 24 (IndiaReport)
New Zealand&aposs Olympic Committee will take another day before deciding whether to participate in the troubled Commonwealth Games in Delhi but its Prime Minister John Key indicated that the country will not pull out of the event despite a crisis-hit build-up.
The NZOC will receive a report from its President Mike Stanley and secretary general Barry Maister on Delhi&aposs preparedness today after the duo&aposs arrival from the Indian capital yesterday.
National team manager Dave Currie said attempts to ensure that the facilities were up to the mark was"like trying to stop the Titanic"after New Zealand delayed the travel plans of their athletes by two days to give the beleaguered organisers time to spruce up the Games Village, which has been lambasted as"filthy and uninhabitable".
However, Key hinted that a pullout may not happen.
"If we are likely to not send our team then it&aposll be because a large number of like-minded countries form the same view,"he said.
Key, in fact, went on to assert that had he been an athlete he would have definitely gone to Delhi.
"Yeah, if I could pick my own sport, yeah I would go,"he told&aposNew Zealand Press Association&apos.
"It&aposs heart-breaking for them (the athletes) if they can&apost go,"he added.
Asked about NZOC&aposs continuing indecision on the matter, Key said the body is entitled to the time it is taking.
"Obviously the Olympic Committee feels that they need a bit more time before they can make a final call on that."
Meanwhile, Currie said the next 24 hours would be crucial to New Zealand&aposs final decision but he was"more optimistic"than before after the central government in India got involved.
"We&aposve been pushing extremely hard and it was with some reluctance that we went as public as we did a few days ago, but that was really out of sheer frustration,"he told&aposRadio New Zealand&apos.
"Our responsibility is to ensure their is a safe, secure environment for athletes to arrive in but we want the games to go ahead as do athletes who have trained for a long time.
"We weren&apost making the progress we needed to but at an ambassadorial level we and other countries have been speaking to the Indian government and it appears at the 11th hour they have taken note of that,"he added.
Currie said New Zealand&aposs participation would hinge on India&aposs ability over the next one day to ensure"the completion of all the things that need to be completed.