CGF rule Birmingham bid not up to standards

LONDON: The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) announced on Friday that the deadline for bids to host the 2022 event had been extended, as sole bidding city Birmingham’s plans were judged to be not fully compliant.

The original deadline for bids to replace Durban as host of the 2022 Games was Sept 30. The South African city had the hosting rights removed in March by the CGF after failing to meet promises contained in their bid.

Birmingham was the only bidder last month, after receiving backing from the British government.

CGF president Louise Martin, however, said that the British city, and other possible interested parties, should be given more time to assess plans following an executive board meeting in Sri Lanka.

“We have carefully reviewed the bids and updates received as part of the ongoing 2022 Candidate City Process and have agreed — noting the challenging timescales and no fully compliant bid — that further time should be given to all interested parties to enable the submission of fully compliant proposals,” Martin said in a statement.

The CGF did not elaborate on the reasons for Birmingham’s bid being judged as not fully compliant. The new deadline for bids has been set for Nov 30.

“We expected a period of discussion and negotiation with the CGF following submission and we await further clarification from the CGF about the next steps,” a Birmingham 2022 spokesperson told the BBC. Reuters