The Chamberlain News

Birmingham preferred UK candidate city for 2022 Commonwealth Games

The city council has welcomed the decision by the Commonwealth Games Delivery Unit (CGDU) to recommend Birmingham as a Candidate City to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Ian Ward, Deputy Leader and Chair of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Bid Committee, said:

This is a great endorsement by the UK Government of Birmingham’s credentials to host the Games and recognition of the city’s resolve to deliver a memorable event.

We appreciate that it was a very close decision and that Liverpool pushed us all the way with a very compelling proposal. This is not the end of the journey and we look forward to working with the Government as it makes its final decision to support a UK Candidate City.

ICYMI: Cllr Ian Ward, Deputy Leader welcomes the Commonwealth Games decision:

— Bham City Council (@BhamCityCouncil)

Andy Street, Mayor of West Midlands, said:

The regional support of the Midlands was a key determining factor and I want to thank all those regional agencies and organisations that have worked hard over the last six months to get us to this position. We will make the Commonwealth proud.

The Mayor was careful to praise Birmingham city council for its “visionary” bid:

A huge well done to for the visionary bid and everyone (and there were many) who helped us with .

— Andy Street (@andy4wm)

Liverpool’s elected city mayor, Joe Anderson, is facing as many – if not more – problems than Birmingham’s council leader, John Clancy. But he was gracious enough to wish Birmingham well.

Liverpool has lost its bid to host Commonwealth Games 2022 thanks to my team 👍Congratulations and good luck Birmingham wish you well👏

— Joe Anderson (@mayor_anderson)

Neil Rami, Chief Executive of the West Midlands Growth Company, which manages the leisure tourism programme Visit Birmingham, said:

The decision to nominate Birmingham as the potential UK candidate city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games bid is fantastic news for the city and the wider West Midlands region.

Birmingham has enjoyed a 17% increase in domestic tourists and a 52% rise in overseas guests since 2011. We anticipate the Games alone to add at least a 10% increase to our record-breaking visitor numbers.

Winning this stage of the process confirms what we’ve known for a long time – Birmingham and the West Midlands are world-class sporting destinations, which provide an outstanding welcome for its millions of sports fans.

Mr Rami and Cllr Ward have been at the heart of planning Birmingham’s bid and will feel as if their many hours of work on the project have been worth it following today’s announcement.

Cllr John Clancy, Leader of Birmingham City Council, has left his deputy and sporting enthusiast to lead the bid. In a challenging week for the leader, he was quick to praise his deputy:

This is great news for Birmingham and the West Midlands, and I’d like to thank Cllr Ian Ward and his team for all of their hard work in putting together the bid.

We now have a golden opportunity to convince the Government that Birmingham can deliver the best ever Commonwealth Games in 2022, and that is exactly what we intend to do.

Chamberlain News understands that Interim Chief Executive Stella Manzie was widely considered to have delivered a particularly strong presentation during official assessment visits. Earlier today, we revealed that she has been offered and accepted an extension to her contract.

Birmingham’s bid was praised by Commonwealth Games England:

CEO Paul Blanchard confirms Birmingham as England’s preferred bid city for 2022 Commonwealth Games

— Team England (@TeamEngland)

HM Treasury will now consider if the preferred bid offers “overall value for money for the taxpayer.”

The Government says that a compelling business case must now be pulled together, showing clear value for taxpayers money to receive government funding towards an official bid.

The decision comes after an independent assessment panel and officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport made the recommendation for Birmingham to Ministers.

The Government will now make a final decision, in consultation with Commonwealth Games England, if the UK will submit a formal bid to the Commonwealth Games Federation, with Birmingham as the proposed candidate city.

Sports Minister Tracey Crouch said:

I am grateful to the bid teams from both Birmingham and Liverpool for their hard work in making the case for their respective cities as potential Commonwealth Games hosts.

Now, after a comprehensive assessment process, the government will look at the final bid proposal from Birmingham and decide if a formal bid will be submitted to the Commonwealth Games Federation. We need to be completely satisfied that the bid offers overall value for money from hosting the Games and that a strong economic and sporting legacy can be delivered from it.

The UK has fantastic expertise in hosting the biggest events in sport, as recently showcased at the London 2017 World Para Athletics and IAAF World Championships, and if we are to bid and are selected to host the Commonwealth Games in 2022 I have no doubt that Birmingham would host an excellent sporting spectacle.

While both bids were of high quality, Birmingham’s bid was considered particularly strong on its management of risk, its high quality existing venue infrastructure and its plans for a long term sporting legacy according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Both Birmingham and Liverpool were put through a rigorous two phase assessment process to test their hosting credentials that included two formal applications and two site visits to each city.

Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia is likely to be Birmingham’s principal competitor after Durban was stripped of the event in March and as other possible candidate cities have dropped out of the running.