NEW DELHI - New controversy engulfed the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday with warnings the event was in peril with just a fortnight to go owing to filthy, unfinished accommodation for athletes.

India, which wanted to use the gathering of former British colonies to showcase itself on the international stage, was forced back on the defensive with participants already anxious about security and barely built stadiums.

Mike Hooper, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), delivered stinging criticism about the athletes' residential towers likely to embarrass the government, which has admitted the country's prestige is on the line.