DOHA, Nov 30: Qatar started its 24-hour countdown to the Asian Games opening ceremony on Thursday and insisted its three-billion-dollar investment in the tournament will be a success despite fears over security and organisation.

More than 13,000 athletes from 45 nations will be taking part in the Games which run from December 1-15. “It will be a secure Games and a Games that everyone will enjoy,” said spokesman Ahmed Abdulla Al-Khulaifi. “This is a safe country.”

Despite their confidence, the organisers have faced a growing list of problems in recent days. Although the tiny-rich Gulf state has been commended by a UN rights official for trying to curb the exploitation of migrant laborers here, it has been urged to do more to combat the scourge.

Workers who helped refurbish the 50,000-seater showpiece Khalifa Stadium said contractors continue to rob them of a slice of their paltry wages.

“The company for which I work promised to pay me 1,000 rials (275 dollars) a month, but its (Indian) manager is only paying 750 rials (206 dollars),” said Raju Nat, a 24-year-old Indian.

Inside the stadia, early action has been played out in ghost-like atmospheres. The group stages of the football tournament, which kicked-off on Tuesday, have yet to capture the imagination of the public with only the match between Qatar and Jordan keeping the stewards gainfully employed.

The athletes village, which will be converted into a hospital after the tournament, has also had to contend with a chicken pox scare.

Two members of the Maldives volleyball team were diagnosed with the disease while another showed signs that he too was infected.

The entire team was then moved out of the athletes village. As a result of the outbreak, the team was forced to cancel its match against Taiwan on Tuesday.

Also missing out on volleyball action was the Palestinian territories team who failed to make it out of the Gaza strip in time. The same fate befell their table tennis squad who were forced to skip their opening team event clash on Wednesday.

On Thursday, there will be action in five sports.

China's badminton world champion Lin Dan got the team event off to a flying start with a 21-19, 21-11 win over Anup Sridhar of India, but his build-up was far from perfect.

“I heard our driver went to get coffee, so I lost 20 minutes of preparation time,” said Lin who was also unhappy with the playing conditions at the Aspire Dome.

“There was a little bit of wind blowing around the venue because of the ventilation.”

The men's and women's table tennis team event reaches the quarter-final stage, the baseball round robin continues while the preliminary round of the men's basketball gets underway.In women's football, Asian Cup winners China open with a match against Thailand while defending champions North Korea face Vietnam.—AFP