In the interview, Michael Fennell, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, looks towards Delhi 2010 and beyond.
Global: The Commonwealth Games are often referred to as the ‘Friendly Games’. How does the friendliness manifest itself?
Michael Fennell: From the time the Games started in 1930, the whole idea was to foster relationships through individual sports, because team sports were not in it at that time, and to ensure that the Games themselves were giving an expression to those values of sport – that we all talk about but do not see – which are to develop friendships between people of different races, different backgrounds, different countries.
The people responsible over the years, and under my watch, have taken a lot of trouble to retain those values. I find it interesting that if you talk to the athletes, one of the things they like about the Games is that they have the intense competition at the highest level but in a far more relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
How would you describe the contrast with the Olympic Games?
We’re far less commercial and the pressures are not as great, but we do have the same competitive spirit and we try to balance that competitive spirit on the field with the off-the-field friendship – we have a number of features in the village that tend to promote that friendship. We encourage little activities that speak to harmony and friendship to a greater degree than in the Olympic Games. Because of their size and the smaller number of sports, this is easier done with the Commonwealth Games – with its 17 sports – than the larger number of sports in the Olympics. And the closing ceremony of the Games has always been a celebration of friendship. Instead of having the teams march as teams, everybody marches in a mixed-up fashion as one huge family.
How are the 17 sports arrived at and is it possible you will be adding new ones?
Not adding but maybe replacing. We have had different ways of arriving at that number over the years but we’ve reviewed the sports consistently since 1998, when we first introduced team sports, and when we established the criteria and a methodology for reviewing sports on the programme. This comes from the larger number of compulsory sports and the second level of optional sports. We have a third level of sports that are recognised by the Federation but that are not eligible for the Games programme as yet. The process involves applications by the various sports to the Federation, which are processed through the Sports Committee, which does its evaluation and makes a recommendation to the Board, and the Board will take the decision to the General Assembly for overall approval. Each Games organiser will have the option to select from the optional sports while ensuring that the compulsory sports are on the programme.
You’ve been president of the Federation since 1994. What have been the main changes since then?
We had the introduction of team sports in 1998 and we have continued to modernise the various rules and regulations and brought them into the 21st century. The Commonwealth Games now enjoy a higher level of recognition as an international event than ever before and we continue to strengthen the work of our members through programmes of building their capacity, managing their affairs better and for the development of sports in their respective countries.
What have been the most memorable events during your presidency?
We have seen consistent improvement in the Games. Maybe because they were the first Games for which I was President, I thought the Kuala Lumpur Games were quite spectacular. The Manchester Games were very well organised and I suppose the high point was the last Games in Melbourne, which were memorable in every respect, especially in terms of participation, quality of performance and the superb quality of the organisation. We are dealing with a different situation with Delhi – a different country and different cultures– and we are looking forward to a spectacular show, given all the different ingredients you get in a country like India.
The organisers of the Delhi Games seem to have run into a number of difficulties and you have been one of the more vocal critics. How confident are you that they will be a success?
Well I am quite confident now that everything is on track. The venues are well in place and we are concentrating on the overlay installations and then operational matters such as the catering, transport, technology, broadcasting and so on. I would like to qualify the impression that I have been one of the most vocal critics. Yes, I stand by whatever I have said and done over the last months but this is no different from other Games, where there was perhaps not the same level of publicity about what was said. When we had issues about Melbourne, Manchester or Kuala Lumpur they were not publicised to the same extent. In a way that reflects the increasing recognition of the Games, because people are paying more attention to what happens today. Another aspect is that with a country the size of India, and the promises and expectations, there is more attention on it. We are now better at monitoring and supervising the preparation for the Games than we were before.
One of the changes is the managing structure under a chief executive and that was not the case until after Kuala Lumpur. We now have a formal and professional management structure in place and that has helped considerably in raising the bar in the work that we do and how we monitor what’s going on.
A number of the world’s top athletes have decided not to compete this time – Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Chris Hoy and Paula Radcliffe to name a few. Will this detract from the Games?
Certainly in terms of those big names, yes, people will say it would be good to have them there. There is no question we would love to have them there, but we’ve always had a situation where the timing of the Games has not been convenient for some of the top athletes. This will not be the first time some top athletes have not been able to attend and people need to recognise that. I also look at it in another way: that this provides opportunities for new stars to come on board. While those stars are great, we have to look at the next generation of stars, and sometimes they are born at the Commonwealth Games.
Do you think that you will be able to secure some big names for the Games in Glasgow in 2014?
It’s so far away, you never know who will come on the scene between now and then, but the preparations so far for Glasgow are extremely advanced and all the indications are that we are going to have another fantastic event in 2014.
The logo for the Games Federation includes a horizontal bar. Are the Games continuously raising the bar?
Yes. We have set the bar and we have no intention of lowering it. We want to raise the bar because the athletes are demanding more. The world of sport, the spectators and the sponsors are looking for good quality and we’ve got to raise standards continuously. This is no different from a private company constantly raising the bar for their performance, or governments, or whatever the endeavour is.
We feel very strongly that we continue to fly the flag for the Commonwealth and that we are the most visible manifestation of what the Commonwealth is all about. In terms of the values that the Commonwealth seeks to promote, we can claim, with some justification, that we are leading the way.
