The Commonwealth Games opening ceremony received accolades from many member countries but Australia almost pulled out of it in protest of their contingent being kept in "extremely hot and uncomfortable" environment before the event, a report said.
Australian athletes and officials threatened to boycott the ceremony after being forced to endure a torturous hour-long wait as temperatures hit 40 degrees, the report in The Australian said.
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According to the report, Australian TV footage showed frustrated athletes, clearly hot and bothered, jostling with officials in the tunnel leading into the venue.
It said Australian Commonwealth Games CEO Perry Crosswhite was so upset on his athletes being trapped in the steambath conditions under main grandstand that he personally protested to two senior Commonwealth Games officials CGF vice-president Bruce Robertson and Games organising committee vice-chairman Raja Randhir Singh.
"Steve Moneghetti and I were upset about this and we spoke to the officials and said my complaint was that the organisers did not treat the athletes in the proper manner. It was extremely hot and very uncomfortable and I don't think they realised that when the stadium is full and the reverse cycle air-conditioning is not working, it effectively blows hot air on the athletes," he was quoting as saying by the newspaper.
"It was only the athletes from the countries starting with A or B, but I want to meet with the people who organized the ceremony to look into why it happened and how we can stop it from ever happening again. That should be our top priority.
"Steve and I were worried that it may hinder our athletes' preparation. We spoke to some athletes and they said it wouldn't affect them but it was a concern," he said.
"The only positive thing that came out of it was that our athletics coach said it was a very good bonding experience for his team. I told him the only thing I bonded with was my shirt," he added.
