Suresh Kalmadi on Monday said he and the rest of his staff were "demoralised", "hurt" and "pained" by the negative publicity surrounding the Commonwealth Games. "We don't deserve it," said the Organising Committee (OC) chairman, who dropped in at the Hindustan Times office to chat about the
problems plaguing the Committee, the state of the venues and how the Games will be conducted.

Australian swimmers have been given permission to abandon the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi if they are worried about their safety, a report said. Swimming Australia president David Urquhart said he had told the team any swimmer who felt unsafe after landing in New Delhi and wanted to leave would be given a paid flight home, even before their events.

India’s ace shuttler and a brand ambassador for Commonwealth Games Saina Nehwal on Saturday created a flutter by questioning the country’s capability of holding such a mega event but retracted her controversial statement moments later. Saina first said that she really doubts whether Delhi was
capable of holding the event and the preparations were “not upto the mark” but made a prompt volte face by changing her version.

Pakistan Test opener Yasir Hameed has confirmed that his teammates fixed "almost every game" and claimed that he was dropped from the national team for two years because he did not go along with his corrupt colleagues. The British tabloid News of the World, which stirred international cricket with revelation of spot-fixing last weekend, today published a conversation between Hameed and its undercover reporter.

The tainted Pakistani trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir, which is at the centre of a 'spot-fixing' scandal' that has rocked world cricket, was released without charge after being questioned by the Scotland Yard in London. Officers of the Scotland Yard questioned Test captain Butt and pace bowlers Aamir and Asif, who were suspended by the International Cricket Council yesterday and charged with offences under its anti-corruption code for "alleged irregular behaviour" during last week's Lord's Test.

Sachin Tendulkar, in a startling disclosure, said on Thursday that in his 21 years of international career no bookie has ever approached an Indian cricketer. Tendulkar's statement comes as a big surprise as his second captain Mohammad Azharuddin was banned for life for match-fixing in 2000.

"No, in my 21 years of international cricket, I have never heard of any Indian player being approached by bookies," said Tendulkar.