Sonny Bill Williams has won two Rugby World Cups, been named the best rugby league player in the world and won the New Zealand heavyweight boxing title.

But there is still a hole in his sporting CV. A hole that can only be filled by five big rings.
"Going back in time the best sportsmen ever have been Olympians," said the 30-year-old as he announced he would dedicate himself to being part of rugby sevens' debut at Rio 2016.
"Usain Bolt, Muhammad Ali, the list goes on. It's just an amazing opportunity to become one of those."
This weekend is the start of that journey as Williams - a little more than a month after lifting the Webb Ellis Cup - heads to Dubai for the first event of the globe-trotting Sevens World Series.
This is not one of six World Series events that Williams aims to play in. Instead he has cut short his off-season to meet his new team-mates and learn the seven-a-side game from the sidelines.
And he is not the only 15-a-side star aiming to be part of rugby's new frontier.
On his flight to the Middle East from Sydney, Williams bumped into Australia fly-half Quade Cooper, the pair tweeting pictures of themselves grinning away in business class.
Cooper was en route back to French club Toulon rather than stopping off in Dubai for the sevens. But he is determined to be on the plane to Rio.
His contract negotiations with Toulon's hard-ball president Mourad Boudjellal were long and laborious as Cooper successfully fought for the chance to play sevens for Australia alongside his club commitments.
When he lands in the south of France, Cooper might discuss his summer plans with new club team-mate Bryan Habana.
The Springboks leading try scorer, along with fellow World Cup stars Damian de Allende and Lwazi Mvovo, was invited to train with the South Africa sevens team in November as coach Neil Powell considers whether to import 15-a-side specialists into his Olympic side.
Cooper's international team-mates Bernard Foley and Israel Folau have opted for short stints in Japanese club rugby and will make a decision on whether to try their hand at sevens when they return early in 2016.
Winger Henry Speight, also part of the Wallabies squad at the World Cup, has already made the switch and is in the Australia squad for the Dubai event.
Flanker Liam Messam - another of the All Blacks World Cup-winning squad - has joined Williams in focusing solely on sevens this season.
And Argentina winger Santiago Cordero - one of the stars of the Pumas' run to the World Cup semi-finals - is likely to be part of their Rio effort after signing a central contract with his country.
Montpellier flanker Fulgence Ouedraogo and Castres winger Remy Grosso helped France secure their place at Rio in the summer before joining their country's Rugby World Cup squad.
All those format flip-floppers will have to contend with sevens specialists, men who understand the game's cagey, contact-averse tactics and lactic-heavy physical demands.
Wales wing George North has mused on the possibility of joining cyclist girlfriend Becky James in a British Olympic team.
Danny Cipriani is interested in being involved after his maverick talents were deemed surplus to England's World Cup requirements.
Full-back Stuart Hogg's electric running and courageous tackling for Scotland would surely transfer well to the seven-a-side game.
The names come easily. The reality is more complicated.
Great Britain qualified for Rio 2016 on the back of England's top-four finish in last season's Sevens World Series and the team will be made up of the best players from England, Scotland and Wales at Rio.
However, the chances of recruiting 15-a-side superstars to concentrate on sevens - as Williams has done - is a non-starter for Team GB as they don't have central contracts, while clubs are understandably keen their employees focus on their well-paid day jobs.
English club Wasps have indicated that they - and the rest of the Premiership - will adhere to the regulations and only release players two weeks before the tournament.
Barring an unforeseen bout of Olympic enthusiasm from clubs in the midst of trying domestic and European campaigns, Great Britain coach Simon Amor is likely to have to wait until the second-tier European Grand Prix Sevens series at least before he can welcome 15-a-side players into the fold.
The final leg of that series will take place in Exeter on 9-10 July and Great Britain are hoping their involvement will be confirmed before the end of this year.
Amor will then be faced with the unenviable task of condensing players from three different nations and two different formats into one team in less than a month.
What Amor would give for the access that Simon Middleton, coach of Great Britain's women's team, has to 15-a-side specialists.
A week after England won the Women's Rugby World Cup in August 2014, the Rugby Football Union - mindful of the funding that potential Olympic medals bring to women's rugby - handed 12 of that squad and another eight players contracts to concentrate on sevens full-time.
Emily Scarratt, who scored 16 points in that 21-9 World Cup final win over Canada, is captaining England in Dubai, with another five of that historic squad also involved.
A Great Britain select seven - including Scots Steph Johnston and Megan Gaffney - also played in an invitational tournament running alongside the main Women's Sevens Series event.
Whoever is picked for Rio though, New Zealand will be overwhelming favourites for gold.
They have won all three of the Women's World Series titles since the it was introduced in 2012.
This season, they have a new recruit with Niall Williams, sister of Sonny Bill, making her debut in Dubai.


A sub-tropical storm over the Atlantic has become a hurricane, the first in January in the region since 1938.

The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said the storm - "Alex" - was 785 miles (1,260km) south-west of the Azores, with winds up to 85 mph (140km/h).
Storm Alex is moving north-east and is expected to hit the Azores on Friday, prompting a hurricane warning.
It is one of the earliest tropical systems to form in the Atlantic Hurricane Basin since records began.
Meanwhile, another tropical storm, Pali, has formed over the Pacific, similarly rare at this time of year.
Scientists have linked the storms to powerful winds and high sea surface temperatures resulting from an unusually strong El Nino phenomenon this year.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has said the 2015 occurrence of El Nino will be among the three strongest recorded since 1950.
Severe droughts and significant flooding in many parts of the world are being attributed to the phenomenon, which occurs every two to seven years.
El Nino is a naturally occurring weather episode that sees the warm waters of the central Pacific expand eastwards towards North and South America.


Newport County boss John Sheridan says he will be in charge beyond their FA Cup tie with Blackburn, despite reports linking him with the Notts County job.

Bookies have tipped Sheridan, 51, to manage Notts, who parted company with Dutchman Ricardo Moniz last month.
"I am flattered others clubs are interested in me, but it's just paper talk at the moment," Sheridan said.
Meanwhile Newport have signed Preston North End's Ben Davies and Crystal Palace's Connor Dymond on loan deals.
Defender Davies, 20, had a spell on loan at Southport earlier this season, making eight National League appearances for the Merseyside club.
Palace midfielder Dymond, 21, has also joined the Exiles on loan until 13 February.
Davies and Dymond are eligible for Saturday's visit of Blackburn, subject to international clearance.
But Newport will be without Lenell John-Lewis, who is set to be sidelined for six weeks with a hamstring injury.
The 26-year-old striker suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury in training this week.
County will also be without sidelined striker Alex Rodman and Sheridan said: ''They have been two big players for me, two of my better players.''
The links with Notts County have been a backdrop to Newport's preparations for the cup tie but the club has re-affirmed they have had no approach for Sheridan.
The former Chesterfield and Plymouth boss insisted the reports were "just hearsay" on 31 December.
"I think everybody knows what my position is here," the former Republic of Ireland international added.
"I can say I'm here for Blackburn, York, Dagenham, Orient - the next four, five, six games. Nothing is happening.
"I have come to the club to try and keep (Newport) in the League.
"While I am here I will give 150% to the job. That starts with the game on Saturday."


A military helicopter that crashed near the Syrian capital, Damascus, clipped the tail of a passenger plane in mid-air, state television reports.

The helicopter was earlier said to have crashed north-east of the city, while the plane, carrying 200 passengers, landed safely at Damascus airport.
As clashes continued across the country, opposition activists reported heavy casualties in an air attack on a petrol station in north-eastern Syria.
At least 20 people died, they said.
UK-based opposition activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said many more were wounded in the blast, in a village in Raqqa province.
Another group, the Local Coordination Committees said warplanes had bombarded the petrol station near the village of Ain Issa. Seventy people wounded in the attack were taken to hospital in the town of Raqqa, it said.
Initially, the Syrian Observatory group said rebels had shot down the helicopter in Douma to the north-east of Damascus, but that claim was not repeated elsewhere.
The helicopter's rotor struck the tail of a Syrian Arab Airlines plane, Syrian official news agencies reported. All passengers on board the plane were unharmed, they said.
The government has increasingly used helicopters and planes in its fight against the rebels and activists had reported clashes in the Douma area at the time.
Last month, rebels said they shot down a helicopter on the outskirts of Damascus.
Clashes were reported in several areas of the country on Thursday, including Damascus and the second city, Aleppo.
Government forces are said to have overrun several districts in the south of Damascus where rebels have been holding out, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from neighbouring Lebanon.
Syrian state TV said at least 100 "terrorists" were detained in the densely populated Yarmouk area, an unofficial Palestinian refugee settlement.
In the Dutch administrative capital, The Hague, a group of financial experts, foreign diplomats and Syrian defectors is meeting to look for new economic ways of weakening Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's grip on power.
The group, called the Friends of Syria, is discussing how to make sanctions on the Syrian government more effective and how to track down the Assad government's hidden financial assets.
Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal at the meeting said that one of the problems was that not all countries implemented sanctions on Syria.
Abdo Husameddin, a former Syrian oil minister who defected from the regime in March, has told the BBC President Assad's extended family may have billions of dollars hidden abroad.
"They are talking about probably more than $10bn (Â£6.2bn). And there are some other faces in fact hidden beside the regime itself. So all of this money is not directly under the name of Assad himself, but by other names."
On Wednesday, the foreign minister of Iran, Syria's close regional ally, held talks with President Assad, who told him that the attack his country is facing, is not just against Syria, but also against its alliance with Iran and Hezbollah.
There was further heavy fighting in Damascus and in the northern city of Aleppo.
Amnesty International warned that indiscriminate air and artillery strikes were causing a dramatic rise in civilian casualties in Idlib and Hama.
The UN estimates that the conflict has left at least 20,000 people dead.
Bomb attacks in Damascus and the largest city, Aleppo, have become increasingly frequent in recent months, with the authorities often blaming them on "armed terrorist gangs".


The family of a teenage girl who drowned on a sailing trip have launched a safety code in her memory.

Emily Gardner, 14, from Gloucester, drowned when an ill-fitting buoyancy aid snagged on a speedboat which capsized in Brixham, Devon in May 2015.
Parents Clive and Debbie Gardner set up Emily's Code to highlight safety issues for small boat owners and users.
They said something as simple as checking a buoyancy aid or lifejacket fits properly could save a life.
Emily was with two friends and her best friend's father, Paul Pritchard, on a 16ft (4.8m) speedboat when a wave hit the vessel, causing it to overturn.
An inquest into Emily's death heard all four were thrown into the water. Emily was trapped underneath the boat after one of the straps on her buoyancy aid caught on a cleat.
Mr and Mrs Gardner said: "Many parents like us have no awareness of recreational boating safety guidelines and have never used a boat before.
"When Emily went on a day trip with her friends we were reassured that safety was paramount and that the equipment was top notch.
"If just one family sees this and takes action to protect their children on the water, then Emily's Code will have succeeded and Emily's name will live on."
The code has the backing of the Royal Yachting Association, HM Coastguard, British Water Ski and Wakeboard, and the RNLI.
Emily's Code:


The first face-to-face talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Pakistan happened after months of "talks about talks".

Those confidence-building events, in Oslo and Doha, were essential in laying a path to the one in Islamabad.
Crucially to getting to this point in what is now a peace process, there have not been any preconditions laid down, such as a ceasefire, that have hampered previous attempts by the US to engage the Taliban in talks.
On the contrary, the leader of the Afghan government delegation, Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai, said that there were no demands made on the Taliban to stop fighting. And there was no offer to stop large-scale military operations against the Taliban.
The list of demands raised by the Taliban in the initial four-hour meeting were familiar. They included the closure of all foreign military bases in Afghanistan and an exchange of prisoners.
Mr Karzai said that these were negotiable, although he said there had to be guarantees that released prisoners would not go back to the battlefield.
Mr Karzai said anything could be negotiated, including Taliban demands for amendments to the Afghan constitution.
The Taliban also demanded an end to the UN blacklist. This imposes sanctions, including a travel ban, on named individuals - and lifting it has been a constant demand from the Taliban, and others affected, for many years.
Although the blacklist is held by the UN, the decision on who is on it is ultimately for the US government.
The presence of US and Chinese diplomats as official observers at the Islamabad talks was another breakthrough.
The Afghan delegation said that China would host a future round of talks. The next round is expected to be later this month after the Eid holiday.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will brief fellow heads of state of neighbouring nations, including Russia, at this weekend's Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Russia.
In a press conference back in Kabul, Hekmat Karzai said that, just as the other side had a checklist of demands, so did the government, and that included women's rights.
The early confidence-building meetings had included Afghan women, but all of the members of this government delegation were men.
One of them, Engineer Asim, described this as a "fundamental issue".
On the other side of the table, the Haqqani network was part of the Taliban negotiating team. This insurgent group, mostly based in the Waziristan region in western Pakistan, is allied to the Taliban.
One of the Afghan government negotiators, Haji Din Mohammed, said its presence was essential, because, "if you made peace with one, and the other was not present, then they would cause trouble".
Although the Afghan government team was convinced it was talking to an official Taliban delegation, there is some uncertainty as to whether this is true.
Among Taliban at the table were Mullah Nabil and Mullah Razaq, both senior members of the Taliban government before it fell in 2001.
But in an email to the New York Times, the Taliban political office in Doha said the delegation in Islamabad was not official.
It described the talks as "a step in the wrong direction". And the Taliban have put out a statement which does not clarify the confusion, by merely confirming that the political office has the "sole responsibility" to conduct any negotiations.
Nevertheless, one informed analyst in Kabul said that it was significant that there had been no statement denying that the team in Islamabad was official.
It is certainly a very different process to the still-born attempts made during the 12-year presidency of Hamid Karzai that never looked serious; but it is, of course, a different time now that foreign combat operations have finished.
And there is a theory that peace talks can only be successful when there is a "mutually hurting stalemate" - when both sides are taking punishment but neither can win. The conditions on the ground look like that now.
In beginning the peace process, Hekmat Karzai, a cousin of the former president, warned that success could take some time.
The Afghan public will need some persuading that it is worth it.
President Ghani's warmth to Pakistan, which made the talks possible, is highly controversial in Afghanistan, because of a widespread belief that Pakistan continues to arm and train insurgents to cross the border.
The president has staked a lot of his authority on delivering peace. He has enemies everywhere, not least among some political opponents he is now in harness with in the national unity government who want a fight to the finish with the Taliban.
He has made bold moves to bring the Taliban into a political process in public and private, including improving relations with Pakistan. Now that needs to bear fruit.


Photographs by Alexander McBride Wilson.

Tucked away inside the nondescript walls of a multi-storey car park between Caledonian Road and King's Cross, the family-run Taxi Trade Promotions, better known as Knowledge Point, continues to provide prospective black-cab drivers in London with an education in what is named - quite simply, yet somewhat ominously - the Knowledge.
Photographer Alexander McBride Wilson stepped inside to meet the current batch of recruits.
A proud and noble tradition dating back to 1865, the Knowledge is a rigorous and in-depth study of the streets, routes and notable locations of London, which a hopeful driver must master before they are deemed eligible to enter the ranks of what is one of the oldest land-transportation services in the world.
Malcolm Linskey opened up Knowledge Point in 1985. Having completed the Knowledge himself at the age of 23, and after spending a few months as a driver, he became more and more interested in the trade as a whole. Using his previous experience in print, he started a trade magazine, which, in times of cash-flow problems, he funded by selling Knowledge material.
"It's a job where you're going to be guaranteed a wage. You're your own boss and you work the hours you want to work. There's no better job that can do that.
"Say you've got bills to pay and they need to be paid by the end of the week, you can go out there and earn that wage to pay them bills. Maybe it'll take you 15 hours one day to go and earn that but it's out there to be earned."
In order to earn a licence as a black-cab driver, students of the Knowledge must know by heart the location of every street, theatre, pub, sport venue, embassy, hospital, tourist attraction, intersection, even traffic light, as well as a staggering 320 different routes or "runs" that lie within a six-mile radius of the centre of London.
According to cabbie lore that is not, as many might think, at Charing Cross, but rather more specifically situated underneath the posterior of Charles I's horse just in front of Trafalgar Square.
A true test of mental resolve, the average time it takes to learn the Knowledge is three and a half years. Unsurprisingly, about 75% of those who embark on the course give up.
Pat Linskey, Malcolm's wife, has been working for the company since 1987. "I came to help out on a Friday afternoon to type up the 320 different runs on an old typewriter. We actually drove them on weekends - I've done them all."
Ten days before Knowledge Point was planning on packing up for good, London Taxi Company, a business that deals in selling and maintaining new and used taxis, offered it space in a small unit within a taxi garage so that it could continue trading. Up until that point Malcolm and Pat had been planning on retiring.
Originally a plumber by trade, Tahir was looking for a fresh start. Now, having been studying for three years, he says doing the the Knowledge is the hardest thing he's ever done.
"When I have an exam I work seven days a week. It's very hard - it's a constant thing. Sometimes you dream about it."
To learn London's roads, students spend countless hours driving through the city on mopeds - going through each of the 320 runs.
Having completed the Knowledge at the school back in October 2008, Peter Allen takes some time out of his cab each week to pass the trade on to new blood.
"For me [being a cab driver] is a way of life. I could earn more money in a cab than I could teaching this, but I really want to get the emphasis out about the real pride we have in our job, and to get these people out feeling like proud cab drivers and proud to get this badge that they've worked so hard for."
Training is done in pairs and often the partners will go through the entirety of their course working together and supporting one another.
The school becomes a second home for future drivers, with the days spent studying often lasting long into the evening. "I don't really have a social life - even at weekends. I used to go out every weekend but now I can't really go out because I know I have to plan stuff for the following week. It has to be full-time," said Jack Cawley.
"There's a geezer who didn't let it affect his social life and he's been doing it 18 years. If it doesn't take over your life then I don't see you doing it properly. I don't see any of my friends no more - only my Knowledge friends.
"My old man says people you do your Knowledge with will be your friends for life because you spend every day with them," he adds.
"It's just like school in a way but the difference is that this is for you. There's a massive end result - the pride and the financial side. It's a massive tradition in this country and to be part of that is something to be proud of as well."


The Vatican bank has seen its 2013 profit almost wiped out largely due to a clean-up process which has seen it end relationships with 3,000 customers.

The bank, known officially as the Institute for Religious Works, reported a 2.9m euro (Â£2.3m) profit for the year, down from 86.6m euros in 2012.
Most of its losses came from the winding up of investments made before its reform programme began.
Without these, it said profit would have been 70m euros.
Pope Francis has sought to stamp out corruption and other abuses at the Vatican bank, which handles funds for the Catholic Church.
He pledged to clean up the bank following accusations of money laundering and a lack of due diligence which allowed non-religious, and even crony, businessmen to hold accounts.
Between May 2013 until June this year, outside experts combed through all the bank's accounts in what the Vatican said was a "systematic screening of all existing customer records".
As a result, it said it had terminated 2,600 "dormant" accounts which had seen no activity for a long time, as well as 396 customers who didn't meet the criteria for doing business with the bank.
It said a further 359 customer accounts which didn't meet its criteria were in the process of being terminated.
"I repeatedly said that I would proceed with zero tolerance for any suspicious activity. We have carried out our reforms in this spirit," said the bank's President, Ernst von Freyberg.
His statement came ahead of an announcement on Wednesday which is expected to detail further expected re-structuring at the bank.


Portugal have qualified for Euro 2016 after a Joao Moutinho goal was enough to beat Denmark.

The Group I winners could be joined by the second-placed Danes or third-placed Albania, who are a point behind them.
Albania missed the chance to qualify when they lost 2-0 at home to Serbia on Thursday, almost one year after the reverse fixture was abandoned.
However, a win over bottom-team Armenia on Sunday will be enough as Denmark have played all their games.
Albanian fans had been banned from attending last year's qualifier because of a turbulent relationship between the two Balkan nations.
But when a nationalist Albanian banner was flown above the pitch and caught by a Serbian player, it sparked clashes involving players and fans on the Partizan Stadium pitch in Serbia's capital, Belgrade.
The game in Albania was played in front of a vociferous but well-behaved 13,000-strong crowd, Serbia and Manchester City left-back Aleksandar Kolarov and forward Adem Ljajic scored stoppage-time goals for the visitors.
Portugal and Northern Ireland sealed their route to France 2016 on Thursday, joining the hosts, and already qualified teams Austria, Czech Republic, England and Iceland.
Match ends, Portugal 1, Denmark 0.
Second Half ends, Portugal 1, Denmark 0.
Offside, Denmark. William Kvist tries a through ball, but Nicklas Bendtner is caught offside.
Attempt saved. Nicolai Jørgensen (Denmark) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Michael Krohn-Dehli with a cross.
Attempt saved. Ricardo Quaresma (Portugal) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Tiago.
Attempt saved. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Ricardo Quaresma.
Corner,  Denmark. Conceded by Rui Patrício.
Attempt saved. Daniel Agger (Denmark) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Substitution, Portugal. Jose Fonte replaces João Moutinho.
Corner,  Denmark. Conceded by Rui Patrício.
Attempt missed. Yussuf Poulsen (Denmark) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Michael Krohn-Dehli with a cross following a set piece situation.
Danilo Pereira (Portugal) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Daniel Agger (Denmark) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Danilo Pereira (Portugal).
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) because of an injury.
Foul by Martin Braithwaite (Denmark).
Cédric Soares (Portugal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right from a direct free kick.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Simon Kjaer (Denmark).
João Moutinho (Portugal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Nicolai Jørgensen (Denmark).
Rui Patrício (Portugal) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Portugal. Ricardo Quaresma replaces Nani.
Substitution, Denmark. Yussuf Poulsen replaces Christian Eriksen.
Attempt missed. Nicklas Bendtner (Denmark) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Christian Eriksen with a cross.
Offside, Portugal. Rui Patrício tries a through ball, but Nani is caught offside.
Substitution, Portugal. Danny replaces Bernardo Silva.
Attempt saved. William Kvist (Denmark) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Riza Durmisi.
Attempt missed. Bernardo Silva (Portugal) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Tiago.
Foul by Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal).
Simon Kjaer (Denmark) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Denmark. Nicolai Jørgensen replaces Daniel Wass.
Daniel Wass (Denmark) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Fábio Coentrão (Portugal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Daniel Wass (Denmark).
Goal!  Portugal 1, Denmark 0. João Moutinho (Portugal) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner.
Corner,  Portugal. Conceded by Nicklas Bendtner.
Attempt blocked. Tiago (Portugal) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Nani with a cross.


August's badminton World Championships will be streamed live on the BBC Sport website, with an hour-long television highlights show to follow the final.

The coverage will include live online video from two of the courts at Glasgow's Emirates Arena.
China's Chen Long and Spain's Carolina Marin are defending singles champions, while Rajiv Ouseph and Kirsty Gilmour are set to carry British singles hopes.
"This is fabulous news," said Badminton Scotland chief Anne Smillie.
The tournament runs from 21 to 27 August.


The EU's top court says Greece is violating EU law by allowing doctors to work long hours without adequate rest.

Ten Greek medical associations lodged a complaint at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and were backed by the European Commission. The ECJ ruled in their favour, against Greek law.
The court said that Greek doctors "may have to work more than 24 consecutive hours and even up to 32 hours".
Greek healthcare has suffered major budget cuts under the EU bailout rules.
In 2008-2012 the cut in healthcare spending totalled 25%, a European Parliament report says.
According to the Athens government, the Greek healthcare system is short of 4,500 doctors as well as other medical and paramedical staff.
But Michael Vlastarakos, President of the Panhellenic Medical Association, said another 5,000 doctors and 15,000 nurses were needed.
In the public sector, where most people are cared for, doctors never get 11 hours' rest in a 24-hour period. Normally you get six to eight hours.
In my hospital when you have a night shift you are off the next day, so you don't continue working.
But provincial hospitals may have on-call every day - it depends how many doctors there are in each department, and many have a lack of doctors. They may do more than 24 hours continuously.
In the financial crisis more people are coming to the public service to be seen and waiting lists for surgery have increased. Waiting times have lengthened between a normal appointment and surgery, and that creates much stress for everyone.
They are not replacing medical staff who are on sick leave or who retire.
Heavily indebted Greece has drastically cut public spending, to make savings demanded by its international creditors - the EU and International Monetary Fund - in three bailouts since 2010.
The ECJ said Greek law violated the EU Working Time Directive, which stipulates that:
10%
of GDP went on healthcare in 2009
4%
of GDP is the expected spend for 2015
22%  decline in allocated hospital funding in 2015
5,000  more doctors needed
15,000 more nurses needed
On-call duty extended the time Greek doctors are required to be at work, the ECJ said.
The ruling also criticised the Greek practice of postponing the 24-hour rest period for a week after the end of a doctor's on-call period.
The working time rules do not apply to the private sector - but most Greeks use the public healthcare system.
The economic think-tank OECD says Greece has the lowest number of nurses per 1,000 population in Europe.


Socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson has been found dead aged 45.

The star, who rose to fame in the 1990s as a hard-partying "It girl", received treatment in 2016 for a non-malignant brain tumour.
The Met Police confirmed a woman in her 40s was found dead at Palmer-Tomkinson's flat in Bramham Gardens, South Kensington, at 13:40 GMT.
Prince Charles, a close friend of the star's family, led tributes and said he was "deeply saddened" by her death.
Palmer-Tomkinson, a former Sunday Times columnist and reality TV star, was a regular on the London party scene in the 1990s and 2000s.
She made headlines for her social life, frequently appearing in the pages of society and celebrity magazines, before later appearing on reality TV.
The tabloid darling also battled a high-profile cocaine addiction, which she discussed publicly on a number of occasions.
She was diagnosed with a tumour last January after returning from a skiing trip and was also suffering from an auto immune disease that caused acute anaemia, tiredness and joint pain.
Life in pictures: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
She had voiced fears that she might die, but hit back at critics who blamed her frail health on her well-documented troubles.
Speaking in 2016, she said: "That's always their [press] take on it... cocaine.
"That was so many years ago. But not many people can contemplate Tara's life without it".
As well as being a socialite, Palmer-Tomkinson was also a close friend of Prince Charles and attended the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011.
In a tribute, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall said their "thoughts are so much with the family".
Television host and former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan paid tribute in a tweet that read: "RIP Tara Palmer Tomkinson, 45. A fun, feisty woman who battled many demons. Very sad news."
Majesty magazine editor and royal historian Ingrid Seward told BBC News: "She did have it all, and perhaps that was part of her problem.
"She was a good-looking girl, she had a fabulous family, she was a brilliant skier, rider, and she was very artistic. She sang beautifully."
She added: "I just think there was just too much, and life gave her too many choices, and she just didn't make the right ones.
"But she was a very generous, sweet person, I mean she really was a charming, charming girl."
Later in her career Palmer-Tomkinson appeared on reality TV series I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2002, as well as several other TV shows.
Her father Charles was a former Olympic skier who taught Prince Charles.
The family was skiing with the prince in the Alps in 1988 when they were hit by an avalanche that killed one member of their party, Major Hugh Lindsay, and left Palmer-Tomkinson's mother Patti with serious leg injuries.


A Canadian woman has been convicted of stalking US actor Alec Baldwin and sentenced to six months in jail.

Actress Genevieve Sabourin, 41, was found guilty of stalking, attempted aggravated harassment, harassment and attempted contempt of court.
The judgement in New York came a day after Sabourin was sentenced to 30 days in prison for contempt of court.
Baldwin, 55, testified during the trial that Sabourin had besieged him with unwanted phone calls and emails.
He denied having a relationship with the woman and accused her of subjecting him and his wife Hilaria to "dangerous" harassment.
The actor testified that he had met Sabourin over lunch with a mutual friend in 2000 when he was filming in Montreal.
He said he had met her again in 2010 to offer her career advice - a meeting Sabourin claimed had ended with a sexual tryst.
The actress said she had merely wanted him to explain why he did not want to see her anymore following their alleged brief romance.
Judge Thomas Mandelbaum said on Thursday that she had no right to pursue contact with the star that she knew would be unwelcome.
He said she had waged a "relentless and escalating campaign of threats" against the Baldwins and had shown an "utter lack of respect" for the law.
Sabourin was composed but defiant after the verdict was announced, telling the judge she was "innocent" and had not done anything wrong.
Baldwin, star of Beetlejuice and The Hunt for Red October, has been best known in recent years for his Jack Donaghy role in the sitcom 30 Rock.
He can currently be seen in UK cinemas in Seduced and Abandoned, a satirical documentary about the state of modern movie-making.


The UK has signed a deal with the West African nation of Ghana for the transfer of prisoners between the two countries.

It means citizens of one country who commit crimes in the other will serve sentences in their homeland.
International development minister Grant Shapps said removing foreign national offenders was a key priority for the British government.
There are currently 96 Ghana nationals in British jails.
Under the deal, prisoners can either apply for a transfer voluntarily or, where they are the subject of a deportation order, the transfer can take place without their consent.
Of the 96 Ghanaians behind bars in the UK, 48 would be eligible for voluntary transfers because they are serving sentences of longer than four years.
Mr Shapps signed the agreement with Ghana's deputy attorney general on a visit to the country.
He said: "Removing foreign national offenders is a key priority for the British government and the agreement I have signed this morning plays an important role in supporting this from now on.
"This is an important achievement for the UK and the latest such compulsory agreement the UK has signed with another nation.
"The British government is committed to negotiating further compulsory transfer agreements wherever it can."
The prisoner transfer agreement is subject to ratification by the UK and Ghanaian Parliaments, meaning the first transfer is unlikely to take place before the end of the year.
The UK government said it would be "working closely" with Ghana's prison service to increase capacity.


A Scottish MP who was detained by security forces in Turkey has described the experience as "terrifying".

Natalie McGarry, who represents Glasgow East, was briefly held by authorities near a security checkpoint in the south-east of the country on Thursday.
Her lawyer later confirmed security forces became "alarmed" because she had her mobile phone out at a checkpoint.
He said she was "recording the sound of bombs" from Turkish forces falling on a Kurdish area of Sur in Diyarbakir.
The area is a flashpoint in the conflict between the Turkish government and the country's Kurdish population.
Ms McGarry, who was visiting Turkey as part of a delegation to the country, revealed she was "very pleased" to have landed at Heathrow airport.
Writing in a series of tweets on Saturday, she said: "I was forcibly removed from the street by a man who pushed me repeatedly and would've hit me but for intervention of younger colleagues.
"I was denied access to an interpreter and taken into a shack behind the demarcation line which was filled with guns."
She said she was "relieved" after an interpreter was allowed in after 45 minutes.
She continued: "My absolute admiration to fellow delegates who stayed to support me & were increasingly worried by the shouting & swearing.
"Thank you also to the British Embassy who acted so swiftly to help secure my release. And everyone locally who was contacted & put pressure.
"Thanks also to the Kurdish population of Sur who came to welcome me out and hugged me when I cried. And they brought me chai and thanks."
Ms McGarry added: "I freely admit to crying when I was released. It was a terrifying experience albeit it only lasted a couple of hours.
"I cannot imagine if life was a constant struggle of fear like that everyday which is why Turkey's Nato partners need to demand it stop."
Ms McGarry sits as an independent MP. She withdrew from the SNP whip at Westminster in November after the Women for Independence group called in police over allegations that campaign funds appeared to have gone missing. She has denied any wrongdoing.
Earlier this year, the MP was involved in a high-profile Twitter spat with Harry Potter author JK Rowling.


Journalists at the BBC are to be balloted for strike action over pay.

Members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) will vote on whether to take industrial action following a 1% pay offer, with pay frozen for those earning more than £50,000.
The union also called for reforms to address the "huge differential" between the salaries of journalists, programme makers and senior managers.
The ballot will run from 20 June to 11 July.
"The union has argued for a genuine alternative to the excessive payments to managers and the waste in the corporation," NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said.
"There are structural changes that can be made that would result in fair pay and free up cash for programming.
"Our calculations show that if pay was capped at £150,000, this would free £20m which could be spent on journalism and programming.
"This would be to the benefit of the staff and licence payers."
Currently, director general Tony Hall and managing director Anne Bulford both earn £450,000 a year.
The NUJ said members felt "betrayed" by Lord Hall following the corporation's 1% pay offer, which is tied to a minimum of £390.
When the offer was announced last month, the director general said it was vital to demonstrate the BBC "gets austerity".
In response to the ballot, a BBC spokeswoman said: "We're surprised the NUJ has chosen to ballot their members whilst we are still in talks with the joint unions.
"The 1% pay increase we have offered is in line with the public sector. It is structured to benefit our lowest paid staff and excludes senior managers.
"The reality of the licence fee settlement means that we are constrained financially."
Last year BBC journalists threatened to strike over the 2013/14 pay offer of £600 for all staff, but dropped action after agreeing to an improved offer of £800 or 1%, whichever was higher.


Now that Donald Trump has cleared the Republican presidential field and is poised to be his party's nominee, the next major piece of news out of his campaign could be whom he chooses as his running mate.

The vice-presidential selection is closely watched in part because it's one of the first opportunities for presidential candidates to demonstrate their decision-making skills under the national spotlight and emphasise the kind of characteristics they value in those who would serve in their administration.
More than that, however, the pick can also have electoral value. Past candidates have used their vice-presidential selection to address perceived shortcomings in their resume or play for support among key constituencies or battleground regions.
Barack Obama picked Joe Biden in 2008 to burnish his foreign policy credentials. Mitt Romney opted for Wisconsinite Paul Ryan in 2012 to appeal to mid-western voters and inject some youthful vigour into his campaign.
The Washington parlour game of guessing who Mr Trump will tab as his ticket-mate is already in full swing. A few prominent names have emphatically ruled themselves out. Others have not-so-emphatically done so. And there are some who are quietly manoeuvring for a place on Mr Trump's vice-presidential short list.
Here are the kinds of selections that are in play and a few of the names that keep surfacing.
Mr Trump has said that he is looking for a running mate with "great political experience" who can work with Congress and help get his legislative priorities passed. If he wants a nuts-and-bolts, modern-day Lyndon Baines Johnson to his John F Kennedy, there are a number of possibilities - even though many in Congress, starting with House Speaker Paul Ryan, are not yet fully on the Trump bandwagon.
Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions was one of the first Republican office-holders to endorse Mr Trump, and he's taken a key role in the campaign as its top foreign policy adviser. While he has downplayed his suitability for the position, Mr Sessions has spent 20 years in Congress and is considered the architect of Mr Trump's immigration policies.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is another Trump-friendly insider whose name has repeatedly surfaced. Although he's been out of Congress for nearly two decades, he had modest success as a presidential candidate in 2012.
Like Mr Trump, Mr Gingrich has a reputation as being a bit of a loose cannon prone to bombast. Unlike the New Yorker, however, he has a long track record as a cunning political strategist and policy expert.
Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee generated some buzz after saying in early March that she would consider being on Mr Trump's ticket. She is a favourite of conservative activists and holds high-level positions on several important congressional committees.
During a television interview last week Mr Trump said that there was "probably a 40% chance" he'd select his running mate from among his former presidential rivals.
Such a move can help heal wounds from a bitter primary process and assuage the concerns of factions that supported the defeated candidate.
There's certainly plenty of precedent for this kind of pick. Mr Obama chose Mr Biden. John Kerry picked John Edwards. And if it's good enough for Ronald Reagan, who selected George HW Bush, it's good enough for any Republican.
Chris Christie is likely near the top of this list, given that he was one of the first mainstream Republican politicians on the Trump train with his headline-grabbing endorsement in early March.
Although John Kasich has disavowed any interest, Mr Trump said he'd be "very interested" in vetting him as his running mate. The Ohio governor has a lengthy resume in both state and national politics and could help Mr Trump in the mid-west, which likely will be a critical battleground in the general election.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio has also taken himself out of the running - despite having the potential to help Mr Trump with Latino voters.
"My previously stated reservations about his campaign and concerns with many of his policies remain unchanged," Mr Rubio said on Monday. "He will be best served by a running mate and by surrogates who fully embrace his campaign."
Although he had some nasty exchanges with Mr Trump in the death throes of his candidacy, Texas Senator Ted Cruz could also be a choice.
Mr Cruz, still fresh off his stinging defeat in Indiana, hasn't tipped his hand - but if he were on the ticket it could go a long way toward shoring up doubts about Mr Trump among hard-core conservatives and evangelical voters.
A good businessman knows that diversification is the key to long-term financial success. If Mr Trump wants to mitigate the risk in his general election campaign - namely his eye-popping negative ratings among Hispanics and women - his running mate could be one way to do it.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin and former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer have both expressed interested in being on the Trump ticket. South Carolina's Nikki Haley used her State of the Union response earlier this year to indirectly criticise Mr Trump, but she's since said she will support him as her party's nominee.
New Mexico governor Susana Martinez - who as a Hispanic and a woman ticks two boxes - hasn't hinted whether she will endorse Mr Trump and has said she's not interested in a spot on his ticket, but that hasn't done much to diminish speculation about her chances.
If Mr Trump is looking for geographic diversity, Florida Governor Rick Scott - a former businessman and grass-roots Tea Party favourite - could fit the bill. Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval recently endorsed Mr Trump and could be a boon to Mr Trump among Hispanics in a key Western swing state.
Nothing about Mr Trump has been conventional up to this point, so why should his vice-presidential pick be any different?
Instead of making a selection based on traditional factors like geography, ideology or demographic appeal, Mr Trump could opt for someone who re-enforces his outsider status.
Maybe he could stage his selection in the Trump Tower board room, like a political version of The Apprentice. If he asked the public to text their favourite candidate to his 900 number, the ensuing revenue might bankroll his entire campaign.
When precedent and decorum are discarded, the possibilities are endless.
Remember Sarah Palin? Many Republicans cringe when they recall her ill-fated 2008 vice-presidential bid, but Mr Trump beamed when she endorsed him last autumn. She has said she doesn't want to be a "burden on the ticket", but that is far from an outright refusal to be considered.
If Mr Trump wants a military man to burnish his national security credentials, he could make a play for retired Marine Gen John Mattis, whose name surfaced when anti-Trump forces were looking for a possible independent candidate to rally around. He said no to their entreaties, but "Mad Dog" Mattis could find a spot on Mr Trump's ticket more to his liking.
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough has had a much-publicised cosy relationship with Mr Trump over the course of the Republican primary campaign, and the former congressman - who entertained notions of running himself last year - could decide to re-enter the political fray.
While the two have had a recent Twitter spat, Mr Trump seems all about letting bygones be bygones. He once said Ben Carson was akin to a child molester, and now the retired neurosurgeon is serving on his vice-presidential search committee.
Speaking of Mr Carson, he could follow the lead of Dick Cheney, who held a similar position for George W Bush in 2000, and conclude that he is his own best pick.
At the time the Cheney selection was considered quite shocking. Sixteen years later, it almost seems quaint.


Pope Francis says a brief meeting with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders just "good manners" and not political interference.

They met early in the lobby of the Pope's residence before he left to meet migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos.
"If anyone thinks that greeting someone is getting involved in politics, I recommend that he look for a psychiatrist," Pope Francis added.
For his part Mr Sanders said it was an "honour" to meet him.
"I think he is one of the extraordinary figures not only in the world today but in modern world history," he told Associated Press news agency.
"I told him that I was incredibly appreciative of the incredible role that he is playing in this planet in discussing issues about the need for an economy based on morality, not greed," Mr Sanders added.
He had been in the the Vatican to attend a conference on economy and social justice and stayed at the same guest house where the Pope lives.
On the meeting Pope Francis told reporters: "When I came down, I greeted him, I shook his hand and nothing more. This is called good manners and it is not getting involved in politics."
Late on Friday Mr Sanders fulfilled his promise to release his tax return, which showed that he and his wife Jane had taxable income of $205,000 (Â£144,000) in 2014, the majority of it from his Senate salary.
This puts him almost in the top 5% of US earners, Reuters news agency says.
His opponent, Hillary Clinton, and her husband Bill have earned nearly $140m over the past eight years, according to previously released tax returns.
Some political commentators have wondered why he would travel to Rome so close to Tuesday's crucial New York primary.
"It's a real misstep," New York Times columnist Charles Blow said on CNN. "He's basically going to be saying the same thing there that he's been saying here."
Mr Sanders's campaign manager Jeff Weaver defended the trip at a rally.
"Hillary Clinton has been out of the state on a number of occasions for high-dollar fundraisers," he said. "We think this is a more important reason to leave the campaign trail for the day."
Mrs Clinton, who represented the state in the US Senate for two terms, holds a commanding lead in New York, according to recent polls.


Like his father Hafez before him, the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has proven to be a ruthless survivor who will do whatever it takes to keep himself and his ruling circle in power.

But recent months have seen him acknowledge that he is living in straitened times and will have to reduce his ambitions if he is to avoid a collapse.
Assad's recognition of reality began after a string of defeats in the early spring, including the loss of a second provincial capital, Idlib in the north-west.
In early May, the president made a rare public acknowledgement of the setbacks. But he dismissed them as the ups and downs of a long-term war in which there were hundreds of battles, some won, some lost.
Since then, more battles were lost. The militants of so-called Islamic State (IS) stormed across the desert and captured the important town of Palmyra and nearby oil and gas fields north-east of Damascus later in May, facing little resistance.
Now Assad's tone has changed, and become yet more realistic.
In a televised speech on 26 July, he admitted that his forces suffered a chronic manpower problem, and that the rebels were getting increased support from their Saudi, Qatari and Turkish backers.
Syria, he said, would have to prioritise, and give up some areas rather than risk allowing key positions to collapse.
His Iranian and Hezbollah allies have been urging him to retrench, because they can't help him control the whole country.
Already the regime holds barely a third of Syria's landmass, though it is the most "useful" bits containing most of the big cities, the coast and more than half the population.
The militants of IS are reckoned to hold about 50%, much of it desert.
A motley array of rebel factions dominated by Islamists, including the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, hold other areas in the north and west, while "moderates" control some of the south. And the Kurds have carved out an enclave along the northern border with Turkey. It's a five-way split.
Assad clearly expects to have to give more ground in order to retain the core - Damascus, Homs, Hama, and the Latakia coast at a minimum.
That could mean having to give up the half of Aleppo he still controls - Syria's biggest city - as well as Deraa in the south. Some expect him to lose Hama too.
Is that to be Syria's fate, divided into warring entities, in constant friction, or perhaps relapsing into a messy and unstable coexistence?
De facto partition is not just a possibility, it is already there. The question is whether Syria can somehow be reunited.
The special peace envoy, Staffan de Mistura, was not optimistic when he reported back last week to the Security Council on his two months of talks with many of the players in the Syria game.
He spoke of the "risk of a multi-generational conflict that, with each passing month, reduces the prospects of ever restoring Syria as a unified state".
His proposal for parallel working groups tackling four Syrian issues raised little hope for serious progress - he admitted that he had felt obliged "to seek out even the remotest possibilities for a political solution, even if sadly the logic of assuming a military victory continues."
It is the rebels who currently have the whiff of victory in their nostrils, while Assad is busy battening down the hatches to survive.
The Americans, Saudis, Turkey and Qatar are now working together much more seriously in support of rebel groups, supplying them with TOW missiles and plenty of money.
There are many potential scenarios, including a rebel victory, although that is something the Americans have never wanted as it would open the way for an Islamist takeover - "black flags flying over Damascus".
A US-steered peace process would likely kick in at the point when the rebels seriously threaten the regime enclave.
The deal would be a truce between four of the five entities - regime, mainly Islamist rebels in the north, "moderate" rebels in the south, and the Kurds - and perhaps some kind of federal arrangement. And they would unite to drive out IS from its eastern strongholds, with western support.
Iran might back a settlement which would leave the Syrian state structure in place, securing Tehran's strategic investment - but minus Assad and his circle, with Iran engineering his removal.
"I can't imagine any scenario under which Assad could survive in the long run - but that doesn't mean he won't cling on desperately, even if Iran and the Russians want him out," said a well-placed diplomat.
"But a phase is ending, and things have to change. He has no more rabbits left in his hat."
Born on 11 September 1965, the second son of President Hafez al-Assad.
Graduated from the College of Medicine of the University of Damascus in 1988, intending to pursue a career in this field.
Between 1988 and 1992 he specialised in ophthalmology at Tishrin military hospital in Damascus, before going to London to pursue further studies.
After the death of his older brother, Basil, in a high-speed car crash in 1994, he was hastily recalled from the UK and thrust into the spotlight.
Entered the military academy at Homs, north of Damascus, and rose through the ranks to become an army colonel in January 1999.
In the last years of his father's life, he emerged as an advocate of modernisation and the internet, becoming president of the Syrian Computer Society.
He was also put in charge of a domestic anti-corruption drive, which reportedly resulted in prominent figures from the old leadership being put on trial.
Became president following his father's death on 10 June 2000.
In his inaugural address, Mr Assad promised wide-ranging reforms, but the so-called Damascus Spring was short-lived. It is thought reform was stymied by the old guard loyal to his father.


Glasgow 2014 organisers have promised more shuttle buses to avoid delays that marred the first day of athletics at Hampden Park.

Hundreds of spectators waiting at park and ride centres missed the start of proceedings on Sunday afternoon.
And there was further frustration as large queues formed at the turnstiles and streets around the stadium.
Glasgow 2014 Transport Programme Board co-chair Brian Devlin said it was reviewing its event arrangements.
"There were some delays with buses from the park and ride sites to some venues, but we managed to commission more buses and people did get to where they wanted to be," he said.
"We want to thank everyone who waited patiently and in good spirits as Hampden had a slower than anticipated start.
"But, once up and running, queues moved quickly and around 30,000 spectators were in for the first race.
"We will have our resources in earlier tomorrow and we have strengthened our transport plan and resources by adding additional capacity."
But Mr Devlin pointed out the logistical problems involved on what organisers described as "Super Sunday", which included the morning marathon through the streets of the city.
"This has been a massive weekend of sport and festival in Glasgow, the city's largest ever," he said.
"Over the last two days, Glasgow Central Station alone has had the equivalent of the entire population of Glasgow pass through it.
"Almost 700,000 people have visited the city over the weekend and 1.3m journeys were made by road and rail through the week.
"An estimated 30,000 people took to the streets to cheer on the marathon athletes and Glasgow Green live site recorded a bumper 39,000 people over the course of the day. Almost 40,000 spectators cheered on the Scotland versus England rugby sevens match at Ibrox."
Mr Devlin stressed that, although the busiest days of the Games had now passed, the public should continue to "bear in mind the additional pressures on the transport networks" and that queues might still be experienced at popular venues and events.
Athletics fan David Fuller told BBC Scotland shortly after competition at Hampden began at 14:30: "We got to the park and ride about 1pm and have only just got on a bus now.
"We have travelled up from Worcestershire and we have been left cold and miserable."
Problems emerged the morning after Glasgow 2014 chief executive David Grevemberg warned the public to give themselves plenty of time to travel to venues on what he said would be the busiest spectator day ever experienced by the city.
The main problems appear to have been at the park and ride facility at Silverburn Shopping Centre, just off the M77 in south Glasgow, where marshals reportedly told angry ticket holders: "We don't know what's happening."
However, Games Travel 2014 also tweeted: "Extra buses on the way to Hamilton and Eurocentral. Apologies for the delay. Hopefully you'll get moving soon!"
Mr Fuller said: "There were about 1,000 people in the queue getting annoyed and despondent.
"Organisers were sympathetic but said there similar problems yesterday. It is a bit of a downer."
Diane Williamson, from Derbyshire, had travelled down from Tyndrum, north of Loch Lomond, with her family but found herself waiting in the queue at Silverburn for more than an hour and a half.
"It looks like we are nearing the front of the queue now," she told BBC Scotland shortly after 14:00. "But there's lots of people behind us and they're not going to get to Hampden for the 2.30pm start.
"A lot of people have paid a lot of money for tickets and come a long way to see this."
One tweet said: "This is #glasgow2014 Travel Demand Management? Sell 500 car tickets for 1500 people & we've seen 4 buses in 40 minutes.
"After one hour of queuing this is the sixth bus at Silverburn P&R! Absolute disgrace."
Sarah Parry tweeted: "Whoever planned this one entry only access to a national stadium should never work again. #hampden #Glasgow2014."
Road closures associated with the marathon began at 03:00, but Games Travel 2014 tweeted at 18:00 that most of those roads had re-opened.
The bus problems came as organisers said they had received praise from spectators for the warm and friendly welcome from the 15,000 Clydesiders volunteers.
Head of Games workforce Valerie Mitchell said: "We have received some brilliant feedback from everyone we meet on how amazing our Clydesiders have been.
"The volunteers certainly make the Games. They are the heart of the Games and are the friendly faces you see everywhere you go.
"Without them, we just couldn't put on this great sporting event."


A motorcyclist competing in the Armoy Road Races in County Antrim is critically ill in hospital after suffering a head injury in a crash.

He was airlifted from the scene after the crash in the 400cc Supersport race just after 16:00 BST on Saturday.
An Irish Coastguard helicopter flew the injured rider to the George Best Belfast City Airport.
An ambulance met the crew at the airport and transferred the patient to Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital.
In a statement, the Armoy Motorcycle Road Racing Club said: "We are not yet aware of the extent of the injuries sustained by the rider."


The 2019 Solheim Cup will be held at Gleneagles, the Ladies European Tour has announced.

The biennial women's match-play event between Europe and United States was last held in Scotland in 2000.
This year's tournament, held in Germany last month, was won 14½-13½ by the American team.
Gleneagles hosted Europe's successful defence of the Ryder Cup last year and the course was chosen ahead of Bro Hof Slott in Sweden for the Solheim Cup.
Ladies European Tour chief executive Ivan Khodabakhsh said: "I want to congratulate the Scotland bid team for their work.
"It was an extremely close decision and our heartfelt thanks go to our friends from Sweden for their hugely impressive bid.
"The Bro Hof Slott Golf Club is one of Europe's very finest courses and we look forward to working with them in the future.
"The competitive nature of the bidding process for the 2019 event is testimony to the growth in interest in women's professional golf and women's sport in general.
"The Solheim Cup has grown to be the biggest event in the women's game, delivering outstanding value to its partners at a local, national and international level."
The Gleneagles bid was led by VisitScotland in conjunction with the Scottish government.
And Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon described the announcement of Gleneagles' staging of the event as "tremendous news, not only for golf tourism and events in Scotland but for Scotland as a whole".
"It will help cement Scotland's reputation as the home of golf and the perfect stage for major golf events and help inspire a new generation of children to take up the game invented in their home country," she added.
The 2017 event will take place at Des Moines in Iowa.


The Conservatives are "a lower tax party", Theresa May has insisted, amid speculation her party may raise taxes if they win the general election.

Speaking in Dudley, she said Labour's "natural instinct" was to raise tax.
But the prime minister would not say whether she would keep her party's 2015 manifesto pledge of no rises in VAT, national insurance or income tax.
The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, accused the government of planning "a tax bombshell".
Liberal Democrat and former business secretary Sir Vince Cable said Mrs May was now "at war" with her Chancellor Philip Hammond over tax.
Mr Hammond said on Friday there should be "flexibility to manage the system" of taxation.
But Tory party sources have told the BBC that his comments were not a hint at plans to raise taxes in the upcoming Conservative manifesto.
After her speech at the Netherton Conservative Club in Dudley, Mrs May was questioned by reporters about her tax plans.
"At this election, people are going to have a very clear choice," she said.
"They will have a choice between a Conservative party, which always has been, is and will continue to be a party that believes in lower taxes... [or] a Labour party whose natural instinct is always to raise taxes."
The prime minister said the choice was also between "strong and stable leadership under a Conservative government" or a "weak and unstable coalition of chaos lead by Jeremy Corbyn".
Mrs May also declined to guarantee existing spending on state pensions, which currently ensures a minimum 2.5% annual increase.
Mr Hammond told the BBC's Kamal Ahmed: "All chancellors would prefer to have more flexibility in how they manage the economy and how they manage the overall tax burden down [rather] than having to have their hands constrained.
"But what we put in the manifesto will be decided in the next few days and we will publish that."
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the chancellor was facing a Â£2bn gap in his budget following the government's decision not to go through with an increase in the rate of National Insurance contributions for the self-employed.
"He's recognising he's got problems in the economy, he's got problems in the budgeting that he's done and as a result of that there will be tax rises under a Conservative government if they are re-elected.
"This is quite a tax bombshell."
Sir Vince added that Mrs May needed to clarify her taxation plans and how she planned to "fill the Brexit black hole" in the budget.
"Philip Hammond admitted yesterday that taxes would have to rise, no doubt due to Theresa May's hard Brexit that could leave anything up to a Â£100bn Brexit black hole in the public finances," he said.
"Theresa May should come clean on how she intends to fill the Brexit black hole if she won't increase taxes."


In republican France, you might have thought that the fanfare of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee would have passed almost unnoticed.

Far from it. The pomp and pageantry of the British Royal Family hold a surprising degree of fascination for the French.
The Jubilee was extensively covered by the French media and some 3.6 million viewers watched a three-and-a-half hour live Jubilee special on France 2 television on Sunday afternoon.
"It's a very good score," said Yannick Letranchant, the executive behind the programme. "We got 26.3% of the audience, despite the French Open tennis tournament being on at the same time on another channel."
Since the Royal Wedding last year and the success of the film The King's Speech the British monarchy has been "a la mode" in France.
The wedding was broadcast live, not just on one but on three French television channels, and Mr Letranchant said it attracted huge audiences. Many offices in Paris all but came to a standstill as people took time out to watch it.
"Whenever we cover a royal event, we get pretty good ratings," Mr Letranchant said. "It's partly out of curiosity, it's picturesque and original, a bit exotic, a real-life fairy tale. And there's a certain respect for the Queen."
Despite the nation's revolutionary history, France's Fifth Republic, with its powerful president, echoes some of the trappings of monarchical grandeur.
The French have long been enchanted by the British royals - and their counterparts in Monaco. For decades they have been regular fixtures in the stylish celebrity magazine Paris Match.
In the days leading up to the Jubilee, several television documentaries and programmes about the Queen were broadcast in France.
"There is no doubt that the French are more interested in the British Royal Family than they are in other European royals," said Marc Roche, London correspondent of Le Monde newspaper and the author of two books about the monarchy.
"It is as if the French had never recovered from chopping off the heads of their own royal family," he said. "They don't know much about the Queen, but they like the pomp and circumstance, they like the grandeur of the institution."
Many French people also see it as a reassuring constant in a changing world, said Mr Letranchant.
"Times are hard in many parts of the world and it's a means of escape," he said. "The Queen has lived through history, while French presidents and British prime ministers have come and gone."
But Mr Roche said the French are distinctly uncomfortable with what they see as some of the "undemocratic" associations of the monarchy.
"For a lot of French people, it represents the class society, opposed to Europeanism," he said, describing the British monarchy as one of the "most anachronistic institutions in the world".
For Mr Roche, the Queen's position as head of state not just of the United Kingdom but of 15 other Commonwealth countries, most of them former British colonies, has been a "sizeable psychological obstacle" to the UK's attachment to Europe.
In a reflective article about the Jubilee in Le Monde, he argues that the Queen remains a symbol of the old imperial Britain, even if opinion polls show that she has never been as popular as she is today.
Three years ago the former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, found himself in a diplomatic spat after not inviting the Queen to the 65th anniversary of D-Day commemorations in France.
Mr Sarkozy's critics claimed he had wanted to make sure that public attention focused on him and US President Barack Obama, and the presence of the Queen could have detracted from that.
Many French people believe that Mr Sarkozy's personal style while in office failed to match the dignity they demand from a president.
"What the French really want is a president who acts with dignity and grandeur, in other words, a king," said marketing executive Therese Joly. "But these days, presidents can often be seen as mere celebrities, while the royals seem to offer something more."
Jean-Francois Lascaux, manager of a clothes shop in Paris, said the Jubilee was "mythical".
"It was splendid, the spectacle of a thousand boats on the Thames was like a painting by Canaletto or Whistler."


Australian police are investigating 15 hoax transmissions made to planes over Melbourne, including one that forced a flight to abort its landing.

The illegal broadcasts were made over several weeks at Melbourne's main Tullamarine and Avalon airports, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said.
Local media reported a portable radio may have been used to interfere with air traffic control.
The incidents did not pose a continuing threat to safety, the AFP said.
ABC News reported that a Virgin Australia plane changed altitude before aborting its landing after receiving instructions from a mystery person on 27 October.
It also aired a recording of a conversation between an air traffic controller and a person pretending to be a light aircraft pilot giving a mayday call.
"I can see you there now. Roger your mayday. Could you please advise what your situation is," the air traffic controller says.
"Engine failure. Descending passing through 4500," replies the hoaxer.
The AFP's head of crime operations Chris Sheehan said police were treating the security breach "extremely seriously".
"These incidents are being thoroughly investigated by the AFP, with technical support from the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority)," he said.
"The airlines have been briefed to ensure the advice has been passed on to their pilots and to ensure appropriate measures are in place."
Brian Horton, director of flying operations at the University of NSW, said making a hoax transmission did not require sophisticated equipment.
He said upgrading security by removing VHF radio technology from planes would be very expensive.
"It's never been a problem up until now," he said.
Making unauthorised transmissions on official air channels in Australia is punishable by up to 20 years in jail.
Virgin Australia has been contacted for comment.


Shaikh Salman, the most powerful man in Asian football, says "senior" figures in the game have told him to run for the Fifa presidency.

In a letter to members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) executive committee, the 49-year-old Bahraini said he is not yet a candidate.
But he said he had been urged to stand "by a growing number of senior football administrators, Fifa members and personalities of public life".
The election takes place in February.
The deadline for candidates to submit the relevant paperwork - together with letters of support from five football associations - is 26 October.
Sepp Blatter will step down as president of world governing body Fifa in February.
Shaikh Salman, the president of the Asian Football Confederation, publicly backed Uefa boss Michel Platini for the Fifa presidency in July.
But he now appears open to stepping forward himself following the Frenchman's 90-day suspension.
Human rights group Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain has written to Fifa asking it to prevent Shaikh Salman from standing, alleging "unethical behaviour" while he was president of the Bahrain FA.
Platini, 60, is suspended as Fifa investigates reports that he received a £1.35m payment in 2011 from Blatter, who is also suspended. Both deny any wrongdoing.
In his letter of 18 October, Shaikh Salman said he had not "actively considered" running and added: "More importantly, I am not a candidate today."
He also urged AFC executives to consult with him and give their views, insisting he will not make up his mind until he has heard from them.
"You and the AFC membership that you represent are the people that I am responsible to and whom I am elected to guide and serve," he wrote.
"Without seeking your views, I would fail in my duties. It is largely in your hands if I accept the challenge."
Shaikh Salman said he would also take advice from close friends, advisers and his family before deciding whether to be a candidate.
His AFC presidential campaign was overshadowed by allegations that he was complicit in human rights abuses during pro-democracy protests in Bahrain in 2011, something he strenuously denies.
Meanwhile, an "extraordinary" meeting of Fifa executives is expected to confirm on Tuesday the presidential election date of 26 February will remain unchanged.
The ongoing reform process is also expected to be discussed, with Francois Carrard - the chairman of the Fifa committee examining various options - due to present an update.


A Spanish auxiliary nurse forced to take a professional exam while in labour has won the right to take the exam again.

In October 2014, Mar Herraiz was close to giving birth. She had been 20 hours without sleep and had had an epidural.
Nonetheless, three members of the examination board for her nursing course appeared, insisting she would have to take a test or fail the course.
The Spanish High Court has now ruled in Ms Herraiz's favour.
Now, unless it appeals, Madrid's health service must let Ms Herraiz, 37, resit the exam of 100 questions, which she failed just before giving birth to her daughter.
The judge found that Ms Herraiz's treatment amounted to discrimination and that she had suffered greatly from a "major lack of sensitivity" that "confounds the most basic commonsense", reported El EspaÃ±ol newspaper (in Spanish).
You may also like:
Spain's female bodyguards who protect abused women
Madrid cracks down on 'manspreading' on public transport


Everyone should consider taking vitamin D supplements in autumn and winter, public health advice for the UK recommends.

It comes as a government-commissioned report sets the recommended levels at 10 micrograms of the vitamin a day.
But officials are concerned this may not be achievable through diet alone, particularly when sunlight, which helps in vitamin D production, is scarce.
Low vitamin D levels can lead to brittle bones and rickets in children.
Limited amounts of the vitamin are found in foods such as oily fish, eggs and fortified cereals.
But, for most people, the bulk of their vitamin D is made from the action of sunlight on their skin.
And official estimates suggest one in five adults and one in six children in England may have low levels.
Now, an extensive review of the evidence, carried out by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), suggests everyone over the age of one needs to consume 10 micrograms of vitamin D each day in order to protect bone and muscle health.
And public health officials say, in winter months, people should consider getting this from 10 microgram supplements, if their diet is unlikely to provide it.
Its main function is to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body, which are vital for the growth and maintenance of healthy bones, teeth and muscles.
In extreme cases, low levels can lead to rickets in children - where the bones become soft and weak and misshapen as they continue to grow.
In adults, vitamin D deficiency can lead to osteomalacia - causing severe bone pain and muscle aches.
But there is a balance - too much vitamin D can lead to high levels of calcium in the blood which can cause heart and kidney problems.
Anyone with a chronic condition or taking medication should seek advice from their doctor.
Vitamin D: Q&A - Why do we all need to take a pill a day?
Meanwhile, children aged up to four should take supplements each day all year round, as should babies under one year - unless they already consume this in infant formula.
Prof Peter Selby, at the University of Manchester, welcomed the advice.
He said: "In particular, it dispels any doubt of the place of vitamin D in the maintenance of bone health and should ensure that all people will now be encouraged to receive vitamin D to reduce their risk of bone disease and fracture."
Previous advice that recommended top-up daily supplements for a few at-risk groups, including pregnant or breastfeeding women, and over-65s, still stands.
For example, people whose skin has little exposure to the sun, or who always cover their skin to go outside, should take the supplements throughout the year.
Black and Asian people should also consider the supplements all year round.
Dr Louis Levy, head of nutrition science at Public Health England, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This is a change in advice, previously we have said that babies from six months to five years should have a supplement and only those people at risk of deficiency should take a supplement.
"Previously we felt that everybody would get enough from the sunlight.
"This is new advice based on evidence looked at over the last five years."
He said those who apply sunscreen in the way the manufacturer recommended would not make enough vitamin D.
"When you go out, you do need to have short bursts without sunscreen and make sure that you don't get sunburnt," he said.
NHS England says vitamin D supplements are available free of charge for low-income families, through the Healthy Start scheme.
Separately, health officials in Scotland and Northern Ireland say they have updated their guidance in line with the new recommendations, but only for people aged over six months.
They are currently considering whether to extend the advice to babies from birth.
SACN reviewed a growing body of evidence linking vitamin D to bone and muscle health.
It also looked at studies suggesting Vitamin D levels might have an impact on cancers, cardiovascular disease and multiple sclerosis but found there was insufficient evidence to draw any firm conclusions.


Can Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump position himself as the candidate of the evangelical right?

It would seem to be a bit of a challenge.
The New York billionaire said he doesn't know if he's ever asked God for forgiveness and referred to a communion wafer as "my little cracker" during a religious-affiliated presidential forum in Iowa. He won't cite a favourite Bible verse. He's been married three times. He was once avowedly pro-choice on abortion. And when an interviewer recently asked him about God, he spent more time talking about an oceanfront real-estate deal.
It's a far cry from the more detailed profession of faith made by competing candidates like retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Arkansas Governor (and Southern Baptist minister) Mike Huckabee and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Even former Florida Governor Jeb Bush - a no-show at Friday's event - speaks openly of his adult conversion to Roman Catholicism.
And yet there was Donald Trump, childhood Bible in hand, making a play for the support of right-wing religious activists at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit in Washington DC on Friday.
"I brought my Bible," he said, noting it was from the First Presbyterian Church in New York City and pointing to an inscription on the inside cover. "This was written by my mother, with my name, with my address, with everything."
It took him a while to get back to religion in his speech - he first felt obliged to take swipes at departing House Speaker John Boehner (for which he was cheered) and fellow candidate Marco Rubio (for which he was booed), but he eventually tried to speak his audience's language.
"I believe in God," he told the crowd of over a thousand. "I believe in the Bible. I'm a Christian."
He followed it up by taking a firm stand in favour of Christmas.
"I love Christmas.  You go to stores now, you don't see the word 'Christmas'," he said. "Remember the expression 'Merry Christmas'? You don't see it anymore. You're going to see it if I get elected, I can tell you right now."
And that was mostly it - the sum total of his appeal to his audience's evangelism in his nearly 30 minute address.
Many in the crowd weren't buying it.
"Only God knows his true relationship with God, but as the Bible says, 'you will know them by their fruit'," says Pam Orebaugh of Liberty Lake, Washington. "He's not a bad person, but he's definitely not one championing and being very verbal about being a Christian, religious freedom, being pro-life."
"Where was he 10 years ago?" she asks.
Damon Boyle of Eldersburg, Maryland, calls Mr Trump "very entertaining", but it would take more than that to win his support.
"He's an excellent businessman. He's an excellent executive," he says. "But in terms of a Christian, what has the man done?"
These sentiments were backed up by a straw poll of Values Voter Summit attendees released on Saturday, which put Mr Trump in fifth place with 5% - well behind Mr Cruz, who garnered 35%.
Mr Trump likes to boast that national opinion polls show him with strong backing from religious voters. A recent Fox News Survey had the New Yorker in first place among white evangelicals with 29%.
A Gallup poll from mid-September, however, found evidence of weakness in Mr Trump's support. He had a net favourability rating of 22% among "highly religious" voters, putting him 12th- well behind Mr Carson (56%), Mr Huckabee (49%) and Mr Rubio (49%).
"No sign here of any special appeal on the part of Trump to highly religious Republicans," writes Gallup's Frank Newport.
So does Donald Trump have a God problem?
White evangelicals made up 57% of the electorate in Republican Iowa Caucuses in 2012 and were essential to the former Senator Rick Santorum's surprise victory there. They're also a key voting bloc in the eight Southern states that are joining together to hold their primaries on 1 March 2016.
For a while, it appeared that Mr Trump was going to give the Values Voter Summit a pass, prompting Family Research Council President Tony Perkins to question his commitment to religious voters.
"I think that is going to send a message to evangelicals and values voters that he wants their support, but he is not really interested in having a conversation with them," Mr Perkins told the Christian Post.
When Mr Trump changed his plans, Mr Perkins changed his tune.
"It is part of beginning a conversation if he wants to build a relationship with evangelicals," Mr Perkins said in a Washington Times interview, adding that a fifth-place showing in the straw poll "is actually pretty good".
Mr Trump may not be a natural fit for this Republican constituency, but it appears he's not going to cede these voters to another candidate without a fight.
Candidates in (and out of) the Republican presidential field


A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after an attack at a Manchester takeaway 11 years ago.

Kalvinder Singh died 16 days after he was beaten by a group of men at the premises in Cheetham Hill in 2004.
Alfred Kurti, 31, was arrested by police in the Irish Republic on Thursday and has been remanded in custody while his extradition is sought by Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
Two men have previously been jailed for the murder of Mr Singh, known as Bob.
In November 2005, Albanian Marjan Semaj, now aged 31, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Emirjan Hysaj, now 39, was sentenced in 2010 to life imprisonment and told he must serve a minimum of 16 years.
Mr Kurti has been the subject of a European Arrest Warrant for more than 10 years.


Hull will be without midfielder Ryan Mason, who suffered a fractured skull at Chelsea, as they look to overturn a 2-0 deficit to reach the EFL Cup final.

Media playback is not supported on this device
Centre-back Curtis Davies is out with hamstring problem, but new signings Lazar Markovic and Omar Elabdellaoui could make their debuts.
Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo is available after missing the league draw at Stoke through illness.
Luke Shaw could start but Eric Bailly is still unavailable.
The Ivorian is returning to Old Trafford after his side's elimination form the Africa Cup of Nations but will not feature at Hull.
Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho says the club face a fixture logjam should they avoid defeat against Hull and reach the final at Wembley.
The final, against Southampton, takes place on 26 February, the date which United were originally scheduled to face local rivals Manchester City in the Premier League.
"I know that it's going to be hard if we go step by step," said Mourinho. "The match against Manchester City I'm sure they will choose an amazing moment, difficult for us, to make us play against them.
"Then we have Europa League, a non-stop competition. In the Europa League you have to play last 32 and last 16. If we are going to progress it's going to be really difficult."
Tigers head coach Marco Silva said Mason's injury has put a season in why the club are battling against relegation into perspective.
The Portuguese said: "At this moment we need to forget everything. The most important is the player and his family - the other things are not important.
"It is important to support the player and his family. Of course it's not an easy moment for us, the team."


Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf has replaced Lady Butler-Sloss as head of the UK government inquiry into historical child abuse.

Ms Woolf is a City lawyer and former president of the Law Society.
She will head an inquiry panel including child abuse experts and at least one victim of abuse.
Retired judge Baroness Butler-Sloss quit as head of the inquiry in July, saying she was "not the right person" for the job.
She stood down after child abuse victims raised concerns that she is the sister of the late Sir Michael Havers, who was attorney-general in the 1980s when abuse is alleged to have happened.
The inquiry, which was set up in July, was prompted by allegations that figures in Westminster and Whitehall were implicated in covering up child sex abuse, and that police and other authorities did not properly investigate prominent offenders such as Jimmy Savile and Cyril Smith.
Announcing Ms Woolf's appointment, Home Secretary Theresa May said: "In recent years, we have seen appalling cases of organised and persistent child sex abuse which have exposed serious failings by public bodies and important institutions.
"These failings have sent shockwaves through the country and shaken public confidence in the pillars of society in which we should have total trust.
"That is why the government has announced that an independent panel of experts will consider whether such organisations have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse.
"We are absolutely clear that we must learn the lessons of past failures and the panel will be instrumental in helping us to do this."
Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper welcomed the fact that the inquiry was "finally moving forward".
But she added: "We still have no terms of reference for the inquiry and have had no assurances that it will look into current gaps that exist in the child protection system, as well as historical institutional failure.
"We now need urgent answers on both these issues."
Ms Woolf, 66, is an expert in energy markets and has advised many governments and the World Bank on privatisation and energy reforms.
As the Lord Mayor of London, she acts as ambassador for the City of London and Britain's financial services industry around the world.
She said: "Ensuring lessons are learned from the mistakes which have been made in the past and resulted in children being subjected to the most horrific crimes is a vital and solemn undertaking.
"I was honoured to be approached to lead such an important inquiry and look forward to working with the panel to ensure these mistakes are identified and never repeated."
She will be assisted as head of the inquiry by Graham Wilmer, a child sexual abuse victim and founder of the Lantern Project, which helps victims of sex abuse, and Barbara Hearn, former deputy chief executive of the National Children's Bureau.
Prof Alexis Jay, author of the recent report into abuse in Rotherham, will act as an expert adviser to the panel, said the Home Office.
Their first tasks are to finalise membership of the panel and agree terms of reference for the inquiry, said the Home Office in a statement.
Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk, who led calls for an overarching inquiry into alleged abuse, backed the appointment of Ms Woolf but called on her to bring "a sense of urgency" to the investigation.
He said the inquiry had lost momentum due to delays after the resignation of Lady Butler-Sloss.
"I'm pleased the Home Secretary has finally got this moving," said the Labour MP.
"Although I would not have looked to high office in the Square Mile to find someone to challenge the establishment, Fiona Woolf is a smart and capable woman and she has my support.
"Britain is in the middle of a child abuse crisis and this inquiry has to be a watershed. It must go to the heart of the establishment and challenge why crimes have been swept under the carpet for so long."
Mr Danczuk added that there was "no time to lose", as some alleged abusers were now very elderly and could die before facing justice.
Matthew Reed, chief executive of the Children's Society, echoed Mr Danczuk's call for no further delays to the inquiry but said it must be "thorough and comprehensive" and the voices of victims must be heard.
"This is a critical opportunity to eliminate the obstacles that have denied these children justice in the past and to stop this horrific crime from happening again," he added.


A spacecraft carrying much-needed US supplies blasted off toward the International Space Station for the first time in months on Sunday.

The Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station after three days of delays due to poor weather.
The Cygnus capsule, expected to arrive on Wednesday, will be the first US shipment to the station since April.
Supplies at the station are running low due to several botched rocket launches.
The capsule carries more than 3,500kg (7,700lb) of food, clothing, computer gear, spacewalk equipment, science experiments and other supplies.
The station currently only has four months' food supply aboard. Nasa aims to keep the supply cushion at six months.
"Santa is on his way!'" Tory Bruno, president of rocket maker United Launch Alliance, announced via Twitter.
The six space station astronauts managed to photograph the rising Cygnus from their windows as both craft made their way over the Atlantic.
"Caught something good on the horizon," commander Scott Kelly reported in a tweet.
Supplies at the station have been running low following several failed supplied runs.
The two private companies - Orbital ATK and SpaceX - contracted by Nasa to deliver supplies to the station, are both stuck with grounded rockets following launch accidents.
An Orbital rocket exploded on a supply run in October 2014, while SpaceX suffered a launch failure in June. Russia also lost a supply ship earlier this year.
Orbital bought another company's rocket, the veteran Atlas 5, for this supply mission.


President Donald Trump called New Hampshire a "drug-infested den" during a tense call with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in January.

"Kids are becoming addicted to drugs because the drugs are being sold for less money than candy," he claimed, blaming Mexico as the drugs source.
"I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den," said Mr Trump, the leaked transcript shows.
New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan called the comments "disgusting".
"Instead of insulting people in the throes of addiction, @POTUS needs to work across party lines to actually stem the tide of this crisis," she wrote in a series of tweets.
Like many American states, New Hampshire is suffering from an acute problem with drugs, especially opioids.
In the past 24 hours, two men were arrested for drugs offences in two different public parks in Manchester, the state's largest city.
One man was injecting in plain view of officers, and the other had just suffered his second overdose in four hours, the New Hampshire Union Leader reports.
Jeanne Shaheen, the other US senator from New Hampshire, called for Mr Trump to apologise to state residents.
End of Twitter post  by @SenatorShaheen
End of Twitter post 2 by @SenatorShaheen
Mr Trump actually lost New Hampshire to Hillary Clinton during the presidential general election.
However, he did beat more than half a dozen other Republicans to win the state's first-in-the-nation primary vote.
Mr Trump's comments were also attacked online by the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
End of Twitter post  by @NHDems
The party's Twitter account also began retweeting scenic landscape images of the mountainous New England state.
Republican Governor Chris Sununu was also quick to respond, issuing a statement saying "Mr Trump is wrong."
"It's disappointing his mischaracterisation of this epidemic ignores the great things this state has to offer."
Donald Trump is president in large part because of the voters of New Hampshire. Although he lost the state in the general election, his Republican primary victory there last February cemented his frontrunner status, crushed opponent Marco Rubio's momentum and mortally wounded the candidacy of Jeb Bush. It opened a pathway to the White House that had seemed absurd up until then.
Mr Trump succeeded by appealing to working-class, non-educated white voters in the state - the kind of people who have been hit hard by spread of opioid drugs. The president acknowledged this in his conversation with the Mexican president, but some New Hampshire residents may find his language dismissive in the extreme.
Then again, Trump voters flocked to their candidate because he was blunt; because he didn't say the sort of things politicians usually do. Time and time again, his supporters heralded his verbal stumbles and gaffes not as a flaw but as a sign of honesty.
No politician in his right mind would refer to a US state as a "drug-infested den". But at this point it goes without saying that Mr Trump is no ordinary politician.
End of Twitter post  by @NHKathySullivan
Earlier this week a White House commission urged Mr Trump to declare the epidemic a "national emergency".
Since 1999, the number of deaths involving opioids have quadrupled, the commission added, citing data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New Hampshire, which Mr Trump visited several times during his campaign for president, has been particularly hard hit.
According to the latest available data, more than 400 people in 2015 died as a result of a drug overdose in New Hampshire; more than 2.5 times the number that died of overdoses in 2011.


A trust which runs three struggling academies has appointed a head teacher from Northamptonshire as its new boss.

Dr Jamie Clarke, head teacher at Sponne academy in Towcester, is now chief executive of the Grace Academy Trust.
The trust runs Grace Academy Coventry which was declared inadequate and put in special measures last week.
It also runs Grace Academy Solihull, rated inadequate in October, and Grace Academy Darlaston, rated as requiring improvement in September.
Former chief executive Steve Chase resigned in December.
Dr Clarke said he expected all three schools would be rated at least good in the next few years.
"It's about making sure there is a really good consistently, high quality teaching that takes place across every single subject area in all three academies," he said.
Meanwhile, Colin Boxall, who was taken on as interim head teacher of Grace Academy Coventry in January, has been made permanent principal.