Birmingham’s bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games is expected to end in victory Thursday with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) to confirm that the city will be awarded the event unopposed, GamesBids.com understands.
At an Executive Board meeting in Gold Coast, Australia earlier this month officials said they would grant another interested candidate a little more time to consider options, even after a September 30 application deadline and a further extension to November 30 had expired with the British city remaining the sole candidate in the race. The other city was not named.
Birmingham will replace Durban – the original host city of the 2022 Games after it was elected unopposed in 2015. The CGF ripped up the contract with the South African city earlier this year when financial milestones were missed.
The CGF said last month that Birmingham’s offer was “not fully compliant”, mainly due to the nature of the government guarantees being offered, but further negotiations have allowed the final decision to move forward.
Victoria, Canada and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia had opened a dialogue with the CGF but both cities lacked the government endorsements required to move forward with an application. Several cities in Australia expressed interest but officials there said that with the Games being staged in Gold Coast next year they would only serve as a final option for 2022 if no other viable cities came forward.
The CGF says that in all, eight cities have been involved in the process.
Birmingham will prepare for the Games as a replacement city on a shortened schedule, 27 less months than what had been planned when the first site selection process ended.
