The delegates’ fear, as explained by Chief Executive Officer Mike Hooper, was the exorbitant hotel rates. He even pointed out how Melbourne suffered because of this when the city played host to the Games in 2006.

Hooper visits New Delhi almost every four-five months to take stock of the situation and to coordinate with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the officialdom.

Even before one could brush aside Hooper’s statement as a hasty one, has come a jolt from FITA, the world archery body, which has taken off the Youth Archery Championships to be held in October here citing that very reason.

At its council meeting last week in Lausanne, FITA decided to withdraw the competition summarily, saying that the hotel rates in New Delhi were too steep for the participating countries to bear. There will be approximately 600 participants from 80 countries, including India.

Confirming this to Sportline, Gunjan Abrol, secretary of the Archery Association of India (AAI), said that it was a real jolt they are struggling to overcome.

“The competition would have given the young archers a good opportunity before the Youth Commonwealth Games in Pune. We even tried to convince FITA to have it shifted to Jamshedpur. But they didn’t agree because of the logistics involved. With no international airport, FITA feels that commuting to Jamshedpur would be another major hurdle.

“FITA Council has decided to withdraw the Youth Archery Championships from Delhi due to the excessive hotel rates in Delhi. Although the federation tried all options including proposing an alternative venue, the options proposed did not fulfill the requirements,” he said.

Clarifying further, the AAI secretary said: “In fact, we wanted to host the championship in 2006 and had quoted the then prevailing hotel rates which was affordable. While allotting New Delhi to host the meet in 2008, FITA has not taken into account the present rates which have gone up. That’s where the hitch is,” he said.

He also said that FITA has sought fresh bids from member associations by February 15 to organise the event. The AAI is obviously displeased over the cancellation. But it is not unduly worried about the lost opportunity as the AAI feels that it was in no way going to upset the preparations of its various teams.