Birmingham to get Com Games confirmation

Dec 20, 2017 - 11:38 AM Birmingham will be confirmed as host for the 2022 Commonwealth Games at a media conference in the city on Thursday morning.

They were originally awarded to Durban two years ago but the South African city was stripped of the Games earlier in March after running into financial difficulties.

That prompted an abridged bidding contest that soon came down to a head-to-head race for British government backing between Birmingham and Liverpool, which was won by the West Midlands city in September.

But despite being the only city to submit a bid by the Commonwealth Games Federation's (CGF) deadline of the end of September, Birmingham has had to wait nearly three months to have its victory confirmed.

First, the CGF extended the deadline for bids until the end of November, saying Birmingham's bid was "not fully compliant", and then a second delay was announced earlier this month as the CGF sought further guarantees from the city and government.

Formal confirmation of its bid will also enable the council to push on with securing the land it needs for the proposed athletes' village in Perry Barr, one of the city's northern suburbs.

Also home to the Alexander Stadium, which will be expanded to host the athletics events and ceremonies, it is hoped that Perry Barr will be transformed in the same way east Manchester was revitalised by hosting the Games the last time they were staged in England in 2002.

Source: AAP