Birmingham to be confirmed as 2022 Commonwealth Games host

What’s the story?

The city of Birmingham is all set to be announced as the latest host for the 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games, after a rather curious bidding process.

In case you didn’t know…

This is the first time in two decades that a Commonwealth Games will be held in England after Manchester hosted it in 2002.

Heart of the matter

Birmingham’s original bid for the games was originally rejected as the Commonwealth Games Federation deemed it to be “non-compliant”. At that moment, Durban, South Africa was said to be the frontrunner for the games.

However, Durban failed to meet a number of deadlines, and their bid was subsequently rejected, putting Birmingham back in the race, after the city council convinced the CWGF that they had the adequate financial backing for the Commonwealth village.

While Birmingham seemed to be the frontrunners now, they had another competitor this time – Liverpool. However, the government was only willing to back one bid from England, and finally sided with Birmingham, promising £560 million in funds.

Hence, as all other bids were rejected before the deadlines, Birmingham remained the only bidders and the automatic choice to land the games. The city is expected to be announced as the host of the 2022 Commonwealth Games on Thursday.

What’s next?

With the games all set to take place in Birmingham, the local council is not set to turn its attention towards garnering the £750 million required to host the games. While the government has already pledged £560 million, the council plans to raise the rest of the £180 million via a hotel tax, where visitors to any hotel in Birmingham will have to pay an extra £2 per night.

Author’s take

While having their bid for the game accepted will be a big boost for sports in Birmingham, it may be a cause for concern that the industrial town was the only venue that had actually managed to put in a viable bid.