Australia said it would send a team to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi as the security risk was “acceptable” despite a warning from a private firm of an 80 per cent chance of an extremist attack.

Consultants from Homeland Security Asia-Pacific said they had identified a number of dangerous failings at the city’s major hotels, airport and on the public transport network, leaving Australian athletes and officials vulnerable.

“The biggest threat to our athletes we’ve identified are the road transfers from the airport to the village and from the village to the venues,” Roger Henning, one of the report’s authors, told reporters.

“Delhi is a densely populated city and the opportunity for a terrorist strike in the city’s choking traffic and crowds is obvious,” he added.

But Australian officials said their advice had not changed and the team would be leaving for next month’s Games in Delhi as planned.

“We’re taking all steps we need to take to protect our team,” said Perry Crosswhite, chief of the Commonwealth Games Association.

“(There’s) no change as far as our position. It’s an acceptable level of risk and we’re going.”

Major incidents

The latest Australian travel bulletin for the Games warns that there is a “high risk of terrorist attack in New Delhi”, with at least 14 major incidents in the city since 2000, killing hundreds of people.

Henning warned up to 30 known extremist groups were active in the Delhi area and though security was tight in the actual Games precinct there were a number of targets nearby that were vulnerable to suicide blasts.

The Games Family Hotel, home to officials and referees, did not have an appropriate perimeter to protect it from car bombs, and there was little surveillance of public transport networks, his report said.