What started 80 years ago as the British Empire Games has survived the demise of British colonial power, World War II and the end of the Cold War to emerge as a curious, some would say outdated, festival of sports which nevertheless defies the odds and remains hugely successful.

Friendly Games have defied the odds before

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Friendly Games have defied the odds before

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This time around though the games are facing an unprecedented challenge in the shape of India, by far the most populous nation in the pack, hosting them for the first time and with just a few days to go until the scheduled opening ceremony in New Delhi, things are looking bleak.

Beset early on by missed construction deadlines and charges of corrupt business dealings, preparations for the 19th running of the Games then staggered into health concerns and fears of terrorist attacks.

To cap it all this week, the shocking state of the main athletes' village - a cornerstone of every Games - have brought angry protests from several countries and even cast doubts on whether the Games would go ahead.

The germ of the Commonwealth Games idea dates back to the 1911 celebrations in connection with the Coronation in London of King George V which included an inter-Empire sports meeting.

Invitations were sent to athletes from Australia, Canada and South Africa to compete against Britain's best "to decide Empire supremacy".

The programme consisted off athletics, boxing, wrestling and swimming with the winner - Canada as it turned out - lifting a silver cup, the gift of Lord Lonsdale.

World War I halted any further such gathering and it was not until after the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics that the first, official British Empire Games were organised, the initiative coming from a Canadian M.M. Robinson.

It was fitting then in 1930, the first host city was Canadian in the form of Hamilton.

A total of 11 countries with 400 athletes took part and such was their success it was decided to stage them, every four years, at the halfway stage between two Summer Olympics.

From 1930 to 1950, the gathering was called the British Empire Games, then the British Empire and Commonwealth Games until 1962. From 1966 to 1974 they were known as the British Commonwealth Games and since 1978 until the present day as the Commonwealth Games.

Hamilton was followed by the seat of the Empire London in 1934 and ventured south of the equator for the first time four years later to Sydney before World War II intervened.

Enthusiasm remained strong and they were successfully revived in 1950 when Auckland in New Zealand was chosen - 12 countries and nearly 600 athletes taking part.

Over the next 20 years, the Games somehow survived the breakup of the British Empire and the strains imposed by the apartheid regime in South Africa and by 1970 in Edinburgh they had blossomed to feature 42 nations and nearly 1,750 athletes and officials competing in 10 sports.

With successive Olympics from 1972 (Munich, Montreal, Moscow and Los Angeles) wracked by boycotts, Cold War one-upmanship and terrorist threats, the Commonwealths were vaunted as being "The Friendly Games."

The Games have the particularity of being premised not on geographic location like the Asian, PanAm or African Games but on a shared language and they provide a stage for smaller countries to have their moments of glory.

The likes of Mauritius, Lesotho, St Kitts and Nevis and the Norfolk Islands have all made it onto the medals podiums while The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey compete for once under their own flags and authority.

The last two editions of the games in Manchester and Melbourne were safe bets and were hugely successful, but storm clouds rapidly gathered over New Delhi's hosting.

It is only the second time that an Asian country has hosted a Commonwealth Games after Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and a debacle in Delhi would represent a potentially fatal blow to the future of the event.

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