Organisers insist reluctant Bolt is set to take part in Delhi 2010

Commonwealth Games organisers yesterday insisted that Usain Bolt will compete despite the Jamaican's coach saying Delhi 2010 was not on the agenda.

"He will surely come," organising committee spokesman Lalit Bhanot told reporters, rejecting reports that the world's fastest man will skip the October 3-14 Games in the Indian capital.

"There is still a lot of time left and we are confident Bolt will participate in the Commonwealth Games."

Glen Mills, who coaches the double Olympic and world sprint champion, had on Saturday dismissed suggestions that Bolt would travel to India for the Games.

"Bolt made it known long ago that he is not going to the Commonwealth Games," Mills told the track and field website www.trackalerts.com.

Doubts about Bolt's participation in the Games were first raised by his agent Ricky Simms earlier this year, but Mills' statement was the first official confirmation that he will be absent.

Simms had said in January that Bolt, 23, was likely to miss the Games to focus on the London Olympics in 2012 and the world championships in 2011 and 2013.

The Times of India yesterday quoted an unnamed "informed" source as saying that Games organisers were willing to pay Bolt a substantial appearance fee to attract him to New Delhi.

Bolt, who skipped the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, reportedly commands a fee of one million dollars to compete in events, the newspaper added.

Organisers have fixed September 3 as the deadline for participants to confirm their entries.

Bolt is currently recovering from an Achilles tendon injury which forced him to miss the recent Diamond League event in New York.