Unanimous thumbs-up for city’s bid
Durban edges closer to hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games, as members of the Commonwealth committee will today inspect what the city has to offer.
DURBAN will welcome 17 members of the Commonwealth Games Federation from the Americas and the Caribbean who arrive today, 5 August, to inspect what the city has to offer for athletes, participants and visitors arriving in South Africa in 2022.
The venues to be inspected include the Rachel Finlayson Pool, Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban International Convention Centre, Durban Exhibition Centre, Beachfront Promenade, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Queensmead Hockey Stadium, Collegians lawn bowls and the Cascade Mountain Bike Park in Pietermaritzburg.
This comes following the announcement that the report of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Evaluation Commission has recommended that its General Assembly votes to award the 2022 Commonwealth Games to Durban.
Reacting to the report, Mayor James Nxumalo said the city was pleased that Durban’s bid proposal was unanimously endorsed by the CGF Evaluation Commission.
“We are confident that we will successfully deliver world-class Commonwealth Games should the CGF General Assembly vote for Durban on 2 September,” said Nxumalo.
According to the Evaluation Commission’s report, distributed on Monday, 3 August, many positive impacts of Durban’s bid for the games have been highlighted. Positive comments were that Durban’s vision supports and contributes to South Africa’s 2030 National Development Plan and is rooted in the desire to engage citizens, especially young people, athletes and the Commonwealth.
The chairperson of the Durban 2022 Commonwealth Games Bid Committee, Mark Alexander, welcomed the recommendation of the report.
“We are absolutely thrilled with the unanimous endorsement of our bid proposal together with the assessment of the various components that we envisage will make Durban one of the most successful cities to host the Commonwealth Games,” he said
However, more work still needs to be done towards bringing the games to Africa.
“While this is a recommendation from the Evaluation Commission of the CGF, the affiliated member countries still need to cast their vote for Durban on 2 September,” added Alexander.
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