Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

England officials are maintaining a respectful silence about recent events that have turned Perhaps they are lost for words.

England began this race as favourites. I presume in setting the odds, the bookmakers considered the facilities and the technical strength of England's bid, thought about the history, pondered the opposition, stuck a finger in the air, got a tarot reading, doubled the number they first thought of and then installed them at the top of their list.

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It is less than two months before Fifa executive committee members will vote in a secret ballot to decide who has won the right to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

But , after Sunday Times journalists filmed two members seemingly prepared to accept money for projects in return for their vote.

We don't know yet how big a story or scandal this will become but it has pricked my memory over what happened more than a decade ago at the .

Then, I was on my way back to Geneva airport when the mobile rang. I was driving and I had a television crew with me who'd grabbed a lift.

We were pushed for time, aiming for the last flight home after a routine International Olympic Committee executive board meeting.

It was a colleague from the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's World Service who'd decided to stay another day in Switzerland. He was slightly troubled and said to me: "It's probably nothing, but Hodler's said something. Might have to file."

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As the last retorts of the fireworks fade away, the temptation for those involved in staging the Commonwealth Games might be to sit back, relax, washed in the relief of having got over the line despite the difficulties.

I think I'd be doing the same, but for India, the job's not done. I think it's just beginning as India has an opportunity to seize here, in the shape of a proper sporting legacy.

After all, why go through the angst and expense of staging an event on such a scale, if there's no longer-term reward?

Front page headlines about a spectacular closing ceremony are little more than tomorrow's chip wrappers. India needs something more substantial.

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There's been daily, strong criticism in Delhi of the Commonwealth Games organisers' inability to sell enough tickets. Today, they're blaming sponsors for failing to use up their complimentary seats.

They certainly haven't denied reports that sackfuls of unused sponsors tickets have been seen being taken away from venues to be shredded. The Commonwealth Games Federation is investigating reports that people are queuing to buy tickets, only to be told there aren't any available for sessions they're interested in, and then later for those same sessions to remain half empty. The feeling is that's not just down to corporate no-shows.

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The value of the Commonwealth Games might be questioned by some, but for athletes like Welsh weightlifter Michaela Breeze, their worth is beyond doubt.

Thursday night saw her final competitive performance, and a silver medal to add to her gold from Melbourne in the 63kg class. Called into the senior GB squad aged just 14, she has given her country 18 years as a competitor, and been regarded for many of them as a pioneer and role model for other women in the sport.

She's quite a performer too. I watched her take gold with grit, determination, and a certain amount of crowd-pleasing cheek four years ago.

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And there it was.

The gal from Southport touched first by a couple of hundredths of a second in the final of the 50m butterfly to earn the right to stand proud on the top rank of the podium, to turn to the high-hoisted flag of St George and, filled with patriotic fervour, her dewy-eyed visage in televisual close-up, belt out the national anthem with a vigour reserved only for those delicious moments when you’ve properly put one over the antipodeans.

Yessssssssss!!

So…what calamity is this? Its all gone a bit flat. The opening bars of Jerusalem are wafting out of the stadium loudspeakers, and the moment, that gilt-edged, triumphal moment, is frankly, a bit lost. Oh dear. How did that happen?

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To be honest, I was a little taken by surprise when the opening ceremony's dress rehearsal started 20 minutes early.

Things began inauspiciously when a stray dog legged it on to the running track and did a nifty 100m with about an hour to go before the scheduled start, and the floor manager had to do a lot of shouting to make sure people got off his cables.

One time-served freelance ceremonies expert sighed and said he expected things to get under way sometime "in the next 20 minutes or four hours", and was looking forward to taking delivery of the kit he had ordered to make various bits of the scoreboards work.

It has been a swelteringly hot day in Delhi: up to about 35 degrees... and I will be honest, the best thing about being here for the run-through, early on at least, was finding some properly cold water to drink.

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