One of my fondest memories of living in Manchester was the time it was host city of the Commonwealth games in 2002. Manchester had tried -and failed- twice to host the Olympics in 1996 and 2000 losing out to Atlanta and Sydney respectively. However we did manage to get the Commonwealth games and while that may have seemed something of a consolation prize it actually turned out to be a great time for everyone in the city, with visitors desceding from all over the world and a bright shiny new stadium to host the events.

When I saw Delhi was going to host the games this year, it brought back memories of 2002 and I was confident that the people of Delhi would have as good an experience as I did eight years ago.

However far from being an exciting and memorable time, the upcoming Commonwealth games have already been clouded in doubt as stories of shabby accomodation and sub-standard facilities plague the organisers. There's been tales of- deep breath now- flooding athletes apartments, leaking toliets, incomplete apartments, dirty bathrooms, rooms meared with excrement and worst of all ..paw prints on beds- gives a whole new meaning to the term 'let sleeping dogs lie.'

The state of the athlete's toilets is not the only problem to beset the games, a bridge that leads to the Nehru stadium collapsed last week, part of the ceiling for the weightlifting venue also recently collapsed, heavy rain damaged the roof of the Yamuna sports complex and the Shivaji stadium which was due to be used wasn't complete in time and will no longer be used.

New Zealand and Canada have delayed their arrival at the games while several athletes have pulled out. However it isn't leaking toliets that many athletes are citing as the reason for reluctance to attend but everyone's favourite bogey men: 'terrorists.'

While in the past I've been critical of the use of the word 'terrorist' being bandied around by people in the public spotlight more often than not when it's got no real relevance, now however there may very well be a threat.

Two tourists were shot near the Jama Masjid Mosque in Delhi earlier this week, while a car also exploded near the same place. The Indian Mujahideen has threatened more attacks when the games take place.

While personally I think athletes refusing to attend sporting events due to the threat of terrorism is wrong- it merely helps the terrorists win, I can understand their reluctance.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called an emergency meeting with his ministers to try and resolve the situation before it threatens to de-rail the games to the point where they don't even take place.

There was good news however as Scotland- who initially had delayed their decision as whether to attend confirmed they will.

A spokesman for the Scottish team, Jon Doig said: "We are heartened that [Delhi chief minister] Sheila Dikshit has personally taken control of the situation and ensuring that the necessary additional resources are brought in, including support from the Delhi hoteliers association to address standards of cleanliness and hygiene and oversee quality control."

He added: "Things are looking much better."

Whether the games are a success remains to be seen but at the moment it looks as though Prime Minister Singh's intervention may have least helped them to take place.

With the whole world no doubt watching as to whether India can deliver, let's all hope they can otherwise the next time a non-western country want to host a major spprting event the Commonwealth Games of 2010 may be cited as an example of why thats a bad idea.