Qatar's build-up to the US$3-billion Asian Games was
overshadowed on Thursday when their million dollar man Saif Saaeed
Shaheen pulled out.
Just 24 hours before the 15th Games was due to officially open,
the 23-year-old Kenyan-born 3,000m steeplechase world record holder
withdrew because of an Achilles tendon injury.
"He just can't run," said his manager Ricky Simms.
"He's limping when he's running. He actually didn't race much
this year, he made a real point of being fresh for the Asian
Games."
Shaheen, who was rewarded with a US$1-million bonus for winning
the 2003 world title in Paris, was set to be one of the major
drawcards of the athletics programme and his non-appearance will be
a shattering blow to organizers.
More than 13,000 athletes from 45 nations and regions will be
taking part in the Games and organizers insist that the tournament
will pass off peacefully.
"It will be a secure Games and a Games that everyone will
enjoy," said spokesman Ahmed Abdulla Al-Khulaifi at a briefing.
"This is a safe country."
However, there has been a growing list of problems with early
action played out in almost empty stadia.
The group stages of the football tournament have yet to capture
the imagination of the public with Bahrain's match against Viet Nam
was watched by just 75 spectators.
The athletes village, which will be converted into a hospital
after the tournament, has also had to contend with a chicken pox
scare.
Also missing out on volleyball action was the Palestinian
territories'team who failed to make it out of the Gaza strip. The
same fate befell their table tennis squad who were forced to skip
their opening team event clash on Wednesday.
Macao's men's table tennis team made it to the Games but
probably wished they hadn't when they were kicked out for using
illegal glue on their bats.
China's world champion Lin Dan got the badminton team event off
to a flying start with a 21-19, 21-11 win over Anup Sridhar of
India, but his build-up was far from perfect.
"I heard our driver went to get coffee, so I lost 20 minutes of
preparation time," said Lin.
(China Daily December 2, 2006)