Games chief denies previous misses played part in Birmingham’s 2022 bid pipping Liverpool

Commonwealth Games England chief Paul Blanchard has denied Birmingham was picked as the recommended city for a UK bid for the 2022 event because it was its turn to get a major event.

England’s “Second City” narrowly beat Liverpool to win the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s backing, and will learn in the next three weeks if the UK government will approve the bid and underwrite most of the cost.

Already considering a bid for the 2026 Games, Birmingham had an early advantage over Liverpool when the 2022 edition unexpectedly became available after South African city Durban was stripped of the event because of financial problems. But Liverpool was widely considered to have closed the gap over the summer, with some insiders suggesting it had even edged in front after positive meetings with the independent assessment panel set up by DCMS and the Commonwealth Games Federation.

The Merseyside city’s late push, however, clearly came too late, and Birmingham now has a great chance of landing the 2022 Games after seeing bids for the Olympics, Millennium Dome and 2008 European Capital of Culture come to nothing.

Blanchard, a member of that six-strong panel, said those near misses did not play a part in what he described as a “very difficult decision”.

“There is no sense of this being a preordained decision and at no point were we put under any pressure or given any direction to make a certain choice,” Blanchard said. “If there had been anything like that, most of us would have walked away. This was a thorough and robust decision and the best process I’ve been involved in.

“In a two-horse race, particularly one this close, there is always going to be somebody left very disappointed.

“And if I was from the Liverpool bid, I’d be disappointed. But when we looked at our 20 criteria, by a relatively small margin, Birmingham was the stronger bid and the most likely to win approval.”

Given the shortened timeframe caused by Durban’s problems, Blanchard said Birmingham’s budget will now be analysed by the Treasury, as it will provide 75 per cent of the up-front costs, with Birmingham City Council chipping in with the rest. The sums involved have not yet been confirmed but it is understood the Games will cost more than £500million to stage.