British teams express Commonwealth concerns

Team Scotland have delayed the departure of their first athletes to the Commonwealth Games, Scottish officials have confirmed.

Amid concerns over the readiness of the athletes' village in Delhi, Scotland's first party of 41 athletes and staff in the sports of boxing, rugby sevens and wrestling will now not be travelling on Thursday as previously scheduled.

Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Michael Cavanagh said: "By delaying the arrival of our athletes by a few days, we hope to give the Delhi 2010 Organising Committee the necessary time to address the concerns that have been raised by both the Commonwealth Games Federation and the countries which arrived early."

The move comes as Team Wales have given organisers a deadline of Wednesday night to confirm that all venues and the Games Village are safe.

The Games, due to take place from October 3 to 14, have been riddled with security concerns, controversy and construction delays.

There are real fears some nations may pull out due to the "filthy" state of accommodation on offer in the athletes' village, with competitors and team officials due to be arriving this week.

Several high-profile athletes have pulled out already as the organisers have been beset with problems in the athletes' village and also a bridge collapse which left many workers injured.

Olympics 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu and 1500m title holder Lisa Dobriskey withdrew citing injury worries while triple jumper Phillips Idowu will skip the defence of his title because of concerns about safety, although his agent has urged him to think over his decision.

Idowu, 31, said on his Twitter account: "Sorry people, but I have children to think about. My safety is more important to them than a medal."

Idowu's agent Ricky Simms said a firm decision had not yet been made and that he advised his client to sleep on it.