Another Commonwealth Games in Malaysia?

UK-based sports portal says Malaysia beat deadline to submit bid to host 2022 Commonwealth Games following the disqualification of South African city, Durban.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has joined the list of countries bidding to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, a sports business portal reported.

Following Durban’s disqualification as hosts due to the failure of the South African government to provide the required financial guarantees to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), England and Australia had already announced their intention to take over as hosts.

However, according to insidethegames, Malaysia and Canada have also launched their bids for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, after beating the deadline set by the CGF.

CGF had set yesterday as the deadline for submissions from countries interested in taking over from Durban. The next Commonwealth Games in 2018 will be hosted by Gold Coast, Australia.

Specialist sports portal, insidethegames, reports on the Olympic, Commonwealth and Paralympic Games.

In terms of cities, only the English cities of Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester have so far indicated their willingness to host the Games. Manchester hosted the Games in 2012.

London is also believed to be considering whether to put themselves forward, as Commonwealth Games England decides on which city should be the country’s representative in the final bid, at its next Board meeting on May 9, according to the portal.

Meanwhile, the Australian Commonwealth Games Association is expected to choose from Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney for their final bid.

Malaysia became the first Asian country to host the Commonwealth Games in 1998, and remains one of only three countries outside of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, to host the third biggest multi-sport competition in the world. The other countries being Jamaica (Kingston, 1966) and India (New Delhi, 2010).

Kuala Lumpur 1998 was also touted by many as being one of the best in the history of the Games.

Durban had won the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games by default in September 2015, after its only rival, Edmonton (Canada), pulled out of the running due to the impact on the city’s economy resulting from the decline in crude oil prices in 2015.

Meanwhile, CGF chief executive officer David Grevemberg told insidethegames that a decision on the new host for the 2022 Commonwealth Games is likely to be made later this year.

“CGF will work with a panel of international experts to investigate the bids put forward by the countries before making a recommendation to the Executive Board.

“This is the first step in a collaborative process that will see a clear and detailed set of criteria applied to any Games hosting ambitions,” Grevemberg said.

“We are delighted with the level of initial interest expressed by nations across the Commonwealth and look forward to working with all parties as plans develop for a Games to be proud of in 2022.” -FMT