THE announcement earlier this week that Durban had been stripped of the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games came as little surprise.
For months, rumours have circulated that the South African organising committee was failing to meet deadlines set by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and that their budget was falling far short of what was required. This leaves the Commonwealth Games in a precarious position.
The South African city was awarded the right to host the Games in September 2015 after beating a grand total of zero other cities in the bidding process. The Canadian city of Edmonton had previously expressed an interest but withdrew earlier that year due to economic challenges and at the time, there was little concern about Edmonton’s withdrawal with the excitement of Africa being given the opportunity to host a multi-sport event for the first time overriding any pessimism.
The CGF has, unsurprisingly, said that there is no need to panic about the 2022 Games and already a number of cities have thrown their hat into the ring to take over hosting duties from Durban; Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham have all expressed serious interest while London has also been mentioned as a possibility. Outwith the UK, there has been mention of Gold Coast hosting two consecutive Games after their 2018 edition while Melbourne could take the Games again after hosting highly successfully in 2006.
There have been tentative suggestions of Canada, Malaysia and India but these nations, initially at least, seem more reticent than the UK and Australia. Irrespective of which city the 2022 Games ultimately goes to though, events of the past week bring up far wider concerns. It suggests that the end of the Commonwealth Games could be far closer than we all had anticipated.
Glasgow 2014 was an indisputable triumph – those Games were 12 days of unadulterated joy, more successful than even the most optimistic of observers had predicted. It was the shot in the arm that the movement badly needed after the unmitigated disaster that was the 2010 Games in Delhi which were marred by corruption and stories that venues would not be ready in time. I was there, I can confirm the city was not ready. Glasgow 2014 gave us hope that Delhi had been a mere blip but rather than reinvigorate the movement and encourage further cities to bid for the Games, it appears that fewer and fewer want it.
It seems almost certain that the 2022 Games will be in either the UK or Australia. Few other countries have the facilities available to host the Commonwealth Games at just five years notice and even fewer have the will. So where does that leave the 2026 Games? Liverpool, Birmingham and London had been the front-runners for that event but the UK hosting the Games three times out of four editions would be far from ideal.
The Commonwealth Games was always going to have a shelf-life. The Commonwealth is becoming more irrelevant and anachronistic by the minute and with the vast majority of member countries maintaining anti-homosexuality laws and human rights violations and corruption worryingly commonplace, it is somewhat baffling why any nation would want to be a part of the Commonwealth anyway. In fairness, it is not only the Commonwealth Games which is finding it challenging to identify potential hosts; the Olympic Games is also suffering from not enough countries possessing the finances and motivation to make a bid as fewer and fewer cities feel that the positives of hosting a major sporting event outweigh the negatives.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games was built around the concept of legacy and while no previous host city had ever made good on their promise of legacy, it seemed that Glasgow was making a better fist of it than most. Glasgow 2014 has certainly left many positives marks on this country but in the intervening three years, we have been well and truly disabused of the notion that hosting a major sporting event can have any impact whatsoever on the most important legacy of all – the participation legacy.
There are still major positives to the Commonwealth Games – several of my own career highlights come from the event and countless superstar names gained their first experience of a multi-sport competition at the Commonwealth Games. But in a sporting calendar that is becoming increasingly crowded, something has to give. The Commonwealth Games has a rich history but there is little future in the event if only the UK and Australia have any interest in hosting it. The Commonwealth Games are becoming a harder and harder sell; hundreds of millions of pounds yet none of the magic of the Olympics nor any increase in participation levels in the host country. A revival is not impossible- Gold Coast will almost certainly do a stellar job next year and 2022 could end up being equally successful. However, the future beyond that is looking increasingly bleak. It would be a sad loss but unless there is a significant change of feeling towards hosting the Games, its demise may, ultimately, be inevitable.
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