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Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president John Coates says India should not have been allowed to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

The build up to the event, which starts on October 3, has been overshadowed by security concerns and allegations of corruption.

There were even suggestions this week that the Games might not go ahead at all after teams began arriving in Delhi to find "uninhabitable" accommodation at the athletes’ village.

Coates said: "In hindsight, no, they shouldn't have been awarded the Games."

However, Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Mike Fennell insisted he was heartened by the "considerable improvements" made.

The village had previously been described as "filthy" by CGF chief executive Mike Hooper but Fennell is encouraged by the work carried out in recent days.

Before a tour of the village today (September 24), he said: "The briefing I've received from Mike Hooper was that considerable improvements have been made within the village, with further significant resources deployed by Delhi Chief Minister, Mrs [Sheila] Dikshit, to make good what was a concerning situation.

"I am certainly pleased to arrive in Delhi to the news that Australia has moved into the village ready for the arrival of their athletes, and with the confirmation that England and Wales will be on their way to Delhi shortly.

"Already so many athletes from around the Commonwealth have started their journey to Delhi.

"Our job across the next week is to help ensure that all the corrective work is completed in good time.

"We must ensure that a suitable environment is provided to ensure the welfare of the athletes and their support staff.

"It is vital that all remedial work that has already started continues with the greatest urgency."

AOC boss Coates was one of the leading members of the organising committee for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and is also an elected member of the International Olympic Committee's executive board.

He pointed out that part of the problem facing the CGF is that it only has five people overseeing Delhi's progress.

In contrast, the IOC, which is currently monitoring preparations for the 2012 Olympics in London, has 400 staff.

"The CGF is under-resourced," he continued. "It doesn't have the ability to monitor the progress of cities in the way the IOC does."

Coates also said that the IOC has contracts in place with London and 2016 Olympic hosts Rio de Janeiro to ensure construction deadlines are met and test events are carried out one year before the Games.

"If that had been the case here [in Delhi], then certainly something would have been done a lot sooner because obviously the venues are not ready," he added.

"Certainly the Commonwealth Games for its future needs to move away from just the old countries – Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Britain – taking turns. But the problem is, they [India] weren't ready."