NEW DELHI, Jul 18 (UNI): With the Commonwealth Games robbed ofmuch of its shine due to withdrawal of several top athletes, a miffed Sports Minister M S Gill today urged CGF PresidentMike Fennell to ensure that participating countries bringtheir full strength squads for the October 3-14 showpieceevent in the capital.
Double Olympic champion and world record holding sprinter Usain Bolt and his fellow Jamaican sprinter Anne Fraser had announced their decisions to withdraw from the Games a few days ago and the latest big ticket athlete to skip the event is Scottish cycling star Chirs Hoy.
"Star athletes have slowly drifted away from the Games.
It's not at all good.
I want to tell Fennell that don't bring your officials here but bring stars like Bolt, Fraser, Hoy and others with you.
They are the main attraction for the people of this country to see," Gill told reporters at the inauguration of the renovated the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Swimming Complex here.
"Commonwealth Games is a sporting event and not the meeting of officials.
These athletes drifting away doesn't please me nor the Organising Committee.
This is not done," he added.
Gill informed that he was extremely upset at the withdrawal of Bolt and the pullout of Hoy was the last straw for him.
"What happened with Hoy is that British Cycling Federation told him that you better take part in the European Championship to qualify for the Olympic Games in London 2012.
This championship consists of valuable Olympic points.
"Asian Games, European Championship and South American championship count for qualification in Olympics and that is the prime reason there priorities lies there.
They don't want to participate in the Commonwealth Games which is a different kind of sporting arrangement," he said.
"I again request Fennell to bring these stars here and not the thousands of officials.
People want to see players not them.
It's a moral duty on the part of players to come and participate.
I want 'A' list of players and not 'B' or 'C'." The minister asserted that he would raise the issue at a meeting of the Sports Ministers of all the Commonwealth Nations on October 4.
"I'll raise this issue before them definitely.
If these stars failed to turn up, then all our efforts stand waste.
People would say that if only you and Suresh (Kalmadi) were to run then why you spent so much," Gill stated.