Thaindian News

London, Sep 27 (IANS) Athletes from England, Canadian and New Zealand have been banned from wearing their team colours outside the Commonwealth Games venues in New Delhi to avoid becoming terror targets.
England chef de mission Craig Hunter said the 565-member contingent can only wear their branded red and white clothing when in the Games village or on Games transport.

The Canadian team handbook for the Commonwealth Games advises “don’t wear your Canadian team uniform” anywhere a venue.

Security experts across the Tasman are warning people going to the Commonwealth Games that they should not wear the Australian or New Zealand colours or T-shirts as they could become targets of kidnapping plots.

According to reports in the foreign media, security forces in New Delhi have put Britons, Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians on top of their terrorist hit list.

England officials said the athletes would only be allowed to travel outside of the Games venues in small groups.

“We are committed to participating and are looking at security knowing we have the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 and the Olympics in London in 2012 and any actions that are taken are taken on the understanding there are robust security measures in place to guarantee the safety of the athletes competing,” Hunter was quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.

“It is important everyone is in a good place (mentally) and feels safe and secure. At the moment I believe the security of the athletes is robust and at an appropriate level,” he said.

Media reports in Australia suggest the authorities there have received intelligence rreports about a plan by terrorists linked to Al Qaeda to take foreign hostages, including Britons, in reprisal for the country’s participation in the war against terror in Afghanistan.

The British foreign office says there is a high risk of terrorism in New Delhi. Embassy officials have been providing a daily security briefing to the England team.

New Zealand Olympic Committee president Mike Stanley has said he’s keeping in close contact with foreign affairs ministry officials.

“There are officials back here who are advising us regularly on the security situation, and they continue to update the travel advisory (website) generally in India and advise us specifically for the Commonwealth games,” Stanley said.

The Canadian team is being advised by the RCMP security service. They are working with an international security liaison group at the Games, made up of Indian police, security and intelligence agencies and police and intelligence agencies from many other Commonwealth nations, Interpol, and independent security consultants employed by the Commonwealth Games federation, a report in Canadian media said.

Canada’s chef de mission Martha Deacon, however, said the country’s athletes, in particular, are not a target.

“It’s just that you don’t want to be attracting attention in really, really, really condensed tourist areas,” Deacon said.

“It’s not Canada. It’s tourists. It’s to downplay the fact that you’re glaringly looking like a tourist. That’s why we decided to keep that as a consistent policy across the team.”