Durban is confident it can host Commonwealth

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7 August 2015

The eThekwini Municipality was confident it would deliver a world-class Commonwealth Games in 2022, said mayor James Nxumalo.

In March, Durban submitted its bid to host the mega sporting event. “We are confident that we will successfully deliver a world-class Commonwealth Games should the CGF General Assembly vote for Durban on 2 September 2015,” Nxumalo said on Tuesday.

Looking good

“The regional clusters of Commonwealth Games Associations from Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania have visited Durban to experience first-hand the venues, our world-class infrastructure, legacy projects and other components in the Durban bid in order for them to vote from an informed perspective and award the Games to Durban based on merit.”

eThekwini has welcomed a recommendation made by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Evaluation Commission that its General Assembly should vote in favour of Durban’s bid to host the event.

According to the Durban 2022 website, a report commends and highlights the many positive impacts of Durban’s bid for the Games.

“Durban’s vision supports and contributes to South Africa’s 2030 National Development Plan and is rooted in the desire to engage citizens (especially young people), athletes and the Commonwealth,” it reads.

“The Games concept features a compact venue plan centred on the sporting super-precinct of the Moses Mabhida Stadium and adjacent coastline, providing excellent opportunities for innovative sport presentation and enhanced athlete experience. The Opening Ceremony would take place on Mandela Day, 18 July 2022.”

We’re ready, but the work continues

Durban Bid Committee chairperson Mark Alexander said this was the first step towards bringing the Games to Africa, although there was still a lot of work that needed to be done. “We are now working tirelessly to ensure that there is a unanimous vote in favour of Durban on 2 September 2015.”

Bid Committee chief executive Tubby Reddy added: “We have always maintained that Durban’s bid and the subsequent awarding of the bid must be based on merit.

“We have demonstrated that Durban’s proposition was indeed of a world-class standard and that the stringent technical criteria demanded by the CGF have been met by Durban.”

About the games

The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport, international event for athletes from many territories that were part of the British Empire.

They were first held in 1930 in Hamilton, Canada, where 11 countries sent 400 athletes to take part in six sports and 59 events. The Games take place every four years; the only years they skipped were 1942 and 1946 because of World War II.

From 1930 to 1950, the Games were known as the British Empire Games; from 1954 until 1966, they were called the British Empire and Commonwealth Games; and from 1970 to 1974 they took on the title of British Commonwealth Games. At the 1978 Games in Edmonton, the name was changed to the Commonwealth Games.

Sources: SAinfo reporter and News24Wire