Let the Games begin – but ask questions

Amelia Gentleman is probably right that the Commonwealth Games should go ahead ( After the misery endured by local people, turning up is the least the athletes can do , 23 September). But the participants in all these major sporting events should start taking a lot more interest in how they are constructed and financed. The Games will only take place at all – if they do – because of the enormous efforts of poorly paid labour, the brutal removal of thousands from their homes, schools and work, and the robbery of at least £100m from programmes to uplift the Dalits, so-called "untouchables", to finance the Games' infrastructure. Athletes who go to Delhi should be asking – as highly paid footballers should have done in South Africa – who gains and who loses in the longer term from these extravaganzas? Such sporting events should be seen as an opportunity to improve the lot of the poor rather than enrich many already wealthy people. Rio – and even Glasgow – beware. Rev David Haslam Evesham, Worcestershire • Thank you for a wise and understanding article. As one who spent 20 happy years in India, I can assure hesitant athletes that the risk is well worth taking. Athletic achievement was never meant to depend on the cosseted comfort of international tourists. Go to Delhi. You will be welcomed; you will be well looked after; you will make friends; and if you have the eyes to see it, you will be rewarded by the beauty and fascination of one of the world's most wonderful countries. You might even come back with a medal. Robin Boyd Edinburgh