Rushdie wants official 'spanked'

Indian -born novelist Salman Rushdie says a leading official for the Delhi Commonwealth games should be severely spanked over suggestions India has lower standards of hygiene.

Rushdie says he's very embarrassed by the Games' preparations and took a swipe at organising committee secretary-general Lalit Bhanot who suggested Western complaints about the athletes' accommodation were because of differing attitudes to cleanliness.

In an interview from New York on Indian television Rushdie says the chaotic preparations have been a great humiliation.

The Games which open on Sunday have seen some nations threaten to pull out amid worries about security a collapsed bridge uninhabitable athletes' accommodation and doubts about the quality of some of the venues and associated buildings.