•As Durban is formerly stripped
By Joe Apu
Durban in South Africa, winner of the 2022 Commonwealth Games host has been officially stripped of the rights follow her inability to deliver on its promises to the organisers and New Zealand has ruled out any chance of taking up the host.
“The Commonwealth Games Federation has completed its review of the final information submitted by South Africa on 30th November, 2016 to determine whether their proposals for hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games are consistent with their original bid commitments and the host city contract,” it said.
“It is with disappointment that the detailed review has concluded that there is a significant departure from the undertakings provided in Durban’s bid and as a result a number of key obligations and commitments in areas such as governance, venues, funding and risk management/assurance have not been met under the revised proposition.”
“The CGF is fully confident and committed to delivering a successful Commonwealth Games for athletes and fans in 2022,” CGF president Louise Martin said.
New Zealand, which was seen as an alternative said they would not be drawn into altering their plans. “We have no intention of taking over the 2022 Commonwealth Games,” Sports and Recreation Minister Jonathan Coleman said in a statement on Tuesday. “There is a lot of infrastructure that needs to be built across the country and this ranks well down on our list of priorities.
The English cities of Birmingham and Liverpool have expressed interest in taking over the games.