Durban Awarded 2022 Commonwealth Games; Prince Imran Loses Presidency

(ATR) Durban is confirmed as 2022 Commonwealth Games host and will become the first African city to stage the multisport event.

British sports administrator Louise Martin also unseated incumbent Prince Tunku Imran to become the Commonwealth Games Federation's first female president at the general assembly in Auckland on Wednesday.

Durban was the sole bidder after Canada’s Edmonton dropped out of the contest in February over financial issues.

Delegates from the CGF’s 71 member nations unanimously voted to award hosting rights to the city following the bid team's presentation.

"I’m excited, the city is excited," said Durban 2022 bid chairman Mark Alexander.

After an 85-year wait for the Commonwealth Games, a statement from his team labeled it "an extraordinary day for Durban, a momentous day for South Africa and an historic day for the African continent".

Martin, who headed the CGF evaluation commission that assessed Durban’s bid, described it as "a historic decision for all of us and one that my commission completely endorses".

On the awarding of the Games, IOC member from Malaysia Prince Imran said: "Over more than eight decades, many great Commonwealth cities, nations and territories have hosted the Games in order to build peaceful, prosperous and sustainable communities, inspired by the actions and achievements of our Commonwealth athletes, and underpinned by our values of humanity, equality and destiny.

"Our friends from Durban, KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa are now primed to make the most of that responsibility and opportunity, and it gives me very great pleasure to welcome the South African city of Durban as proud host of the XXII Commonwealth Games."

Gideon Sam, president of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, said: "I stand before you today an extremely proud South African. We are ready to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, for the very first time on African soil."

"Today marks a gigantic leap in the affirmation and positive trajectory for the continent of Africa,"said Mayor of Durban James Nxumalo.

"It is a moment to seize and firmly anchor our position as a decisive force in sports worldwide."

In a symbolic statement, the 2022 Games will open on July 18 – the birthday of former South African president and anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.

Durban 2022 is positioning the Games as an opportunity to fast-track the city and nation’s development on an economic and social level.

The CGF evaluation commission in July expressed concerns about funding the Games and construction of some host venues such as the athletes village. But financial fears were alleviated last week when the CGF received government guarantees for the project.The government said 2010 FIFA World Cup sporting infrastructure including the 85,000-seat Moses Mabhida Stadium would be used for Durban 2022 to reduce costs.

Bid chief Alexander said the Commonwealth Games would accelerate the city’s development: "Through the Games we aim to build greater social cohesion, create opportunities for empowerment, boost prosperity and ensure equality, while also fast-tracking economic growth in our country. The Commonwealth Games in Durban will be a game changer for the city."

No Olympic Bid

Now South Africa has the Commonwealth Games, its sports leaders say there are no plans for an Olympic bid for years to come. The government and NOC had been mulling a tilt at the 2024 Games for the past two years.

"The South African government has expressed an ambition to host an Olympics and we, in fact, are ready to host it now if the opportunity arises," Alec Moemi, South Africa's Director General for Sport and Recreation, was quoted by Reuters.

"But we are fairly focussed now that we should pay attention to the Commonwealth Games in 2022. We will not intend to bid in the next seven years for anything.

He added: "So an Olympic bid is not on our cards now."

Martin Ousts Imran

Glasgow 2014’s vice-chair beat Prince Imran with the promise to grow the attractiveness of the Commonwealth Games to potential bid cities and elite athletes, while also vowing to increase commercial revenues for the CGF.

"I want to make sure the best athletes in the Commonwealth make the Games the cornerstone of their calendars and that the cities are queuing up to bid for," she was quoted as saying by Reuters."To achieve everything I want costs money and as we know, our income is under extreme pressure from our expenditure.

"I believe the answer is to open our doors to commercial sponsorship and while it will be difficult I'm convinced that once we sign our first top-tier sponsor, others will follow."

New Strategic Plan

The assembly also approved Transformation 2022, a seven-year strategic plan that aims to broaden the CGF focus from the four-year cycle of Games hosting "to a more far-reaching role as a global movement".

As part of this vision, it will focus on partnerships, engagement and value generation "that unites athletes, citizens and communities". This will see the introduction of a new sports program of compulsory and optional sports - the core sports rise from 10 to 16 - and implementation of a sports quota system for Durban 2022.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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