Australia lobbying hard for 2018 Commonwealth Games

The premier of Australian state of Queensland has arrived in Delhi to begin lobbying for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Premier Anna Bligh has arrived in Delhi to launch a bid for the Gold Coast.

Ms Bligh will meet with delegates from voting nations at the Commonwealth Games Federation's annual general meeting on Saturday.

"We believe the Gold Coast really has something to offer the Commonwealth Games Federation internationally," she said.

"It's a great location, a wonderful destination. It's already got outstanding sporting facilities and it's a place that athletes are safe - a great experience for athletes and visitors alike," she said.

Only one other city - Hambantota in Sri Lanka - has nominated for the bidding process, but Ms Bligh downplayed suggestions the Gold Coast was the hot favourite.

"Every single vote will matter and not one vote is taken for granted by our bidding team," she said.

"There are a lot of reasons why voting delegates would support a bid from Sri Lanka - a country that's come out of civil war and looking to create great infrastructure to people and to present them with a really optimistic future."

The Gold Coast team has until March next year to formally submit its paperwork for the bid.

Delegates will visit both cities before making a final decision in November 2011.

If the Gold Coast wins the right to host the Games, it will be the fifth time they have been held in Australia.

Glasgow has already been chosen as host city of the 2014 Games.

Oceania supports Gold Coast Commonwealth Games bid

A dozen Oceanic nations have pledged support for the Gold Coast's Commonwealth Games bid, indicating the city could already have a third of the votes needed to clinch the 2018 event.

Oceania Commonwealth Games regional vice-president Tapasu Leung Ming Wai yesterday said the 12 Oceania countries in the Commonwealth backed the Coast over its Sri Lankan rival Hambantota.

"We had a meeting in Fiji a few weeks ago where there was talk about the Gold Coast bid and supporting the idea," said Mr Leung Ming Wai.

"We see it as a bid on behalf of Oceania.

"Logistically it is closer to us than Sri Lanka and we would support it security-wise."

Australian Commonwealth Games Association chief Perry Crosswhite is now in the midst of political jostling, firming up securing votes from the 71 member nations that will decide the Gold Coast's hosting fate.

He said securing the 12 votes of Oceania, which includes Samoa, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, was a major step toward getting the 36 votes needed to clinch the Games.

"We are full-steam ahead looking at the strategy and politics now and getting people who are going to support us in November 2011 at the General Assembly when the vote happens," he said.

"There are six regions in the Commonwealth and we would hope to get strong support from Europe, the Americas and Caribbean.

"I expect Asia will have some sympathy for Sri Lanka."


Mr Crosswhite said the bid team had already sought tips from Glasgow, which will host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and would be picking the brains of the Delhi 2010 team currently in Australia for the Queen's Baton Relay.

"Premier Anna Bligh had a meeting with Glasgow where they gave us a lot of information," he said.

Mr Crosswhite said that the bid would be centred around hosting a smaller Commonwealth Games in a regional city as opposed to previous years where it has been held in larger cities.

He expected that would be more appealing, because it opened up opportunities for smaller cities to bid for future games. "We think that is what the Commonwealth Games Federation wants and I think it will be a vote-getter," he said.

Flight chaos hits Commonwealth Games briefing

Flight chaos caused by the Icelandic volcano has scuppered plans for Australia's 2018 bid team to meet with Commonwealth Games officials in London this weekend.

Representatives from the Gold Coast and Hambantota in Sri Lanka were due to attend a briefing at Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) headquarters on Friday and Saturday.

But CGF chief executive Mike Hooper said the meeting, where the bid hopefuls were to learn more about putting together their plans to host the event and what is required of them, would be postponed to June or July.

"Courtesy of Iceland volcano, it didn't happen," Hooper told by phone on Wednesday from his home in New Delhi, where he was stranded after his flight to London was cancelled.

"We're now looking to reschedule the briefing session and we're just trying to find a time suitable to ourselves and the bids.

"I suspect we'll defer it to late June or July as a consequence."

Flights were disrupted around the globe after European airspace was closed for days amid fears an ash cloud from the volcano could clog plane engines.

With the 2010 Commonwealth Games due to start in India in October, time will be tight to squeeze in a briefing beforehand.

"It's a hectic time, as you'd expect, this close to the Games," Hooper said.

If the Gold Coast is chosen to host the 2018 Games, the Queensland government plans to spend $11 million on its bid and invest more than $1 billion in infrastructure, including an upgraded aquatic centre, new velodrome and athletes' village.

It faces competition from the surprise bid by Hambantota, located on the south coast of Sri Lanka with a population of about 500,000.

The winning city will be announced in November 2011.

Gold Coast CWG 2018 bid: "In it to win it"

Following Commonwealth Games gold medal winner and property developer Mark Stockwell's appointment to head the Gold Coast's bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Stockwell said he only agreed to be the official chairman of the bid committee after being assured that the government was "in it to win it".
Premier Anna Bligh announced Stockwell's appointment Wednesday, reports Gold Coast News.

He said "we will put together a very successful bid that gets delivered in November 2011, I have got no doubt about that, given the resources and everything behind it". Stockwell, a successful businessman, said about 25,000 jobs would be created between 2015 and 2020.

Stockwell added he was not fazed by the underdog status of Hambantota, Sri Lanka, saying the Gold Coast's weather, security and food safety would be a major selling point.

Stockwell said the $11 million bid will reflect the "razzle dazzle" of the Gold Coast, its relaxed and open atmosphere and "buzz". He said, "I think we have got to do it in a Gold Coast style. As Queenslanders we are very relaxed and we are very open--I think that is something that I want to see come through".

Should the Gold Coast host the 2018 Games, Gold Coast News reports they would be held between April and September taking into consideration the demands of the various football codes on the stadiums.

Meanwhile the Premier said she would not take one step back on her decision to bid despite criticism the money should be spent elsewhere.

She said, "there is always criticism when governments spend money on sporting infrastructure while we are doing it but afterwards everyone understands the benefits. These events bring people who eat at restaurants, who stay in hotel rooms and who bring jobs. This is an investment in jobs, in families and in the well being of the community".

Lanka's bid for 2018 CWG gets stronger

Sri Lanka's push to snatch the 2018 Commonwealth Games from the Gold Coast is stronger after the man behind Hambantota's bid was overwhelmingly endorsed in the country's general election.

Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest son of Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa, received more votes than any other candidate in history, polling more than 88 per cent.

Mr Rajapaksa proposed that Hambantota should bid for the Games, as the city recovered from the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and the end of Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war.

He has already started the bid in earnest, meeting with bid document producer Nalin Attygalle about constructing a sports village and inspecting the construction of the proposed International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota, which is expected to be the centrepiece of the Games if they are awarded to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is expected to lodge their non-refundable deposit of $98,000 to confirm their bid with the Commonwealth Games Federation at its headquarters in London later this week before this Friday's deadline.

Mr Attygalle said `it's an enormous task, true, but it's not an impossible task'.

There are also plans to build a new international seaport, international airport, international convention centre and a cinema village before the end of next year and Sri Lanka is expected to seek private investment to fund the $2.7 billion of infrastructure needed.

2018 CWG: Gold Coast taking Lankan bid seriously

Premier Anna Bligh says she is taking seriously Sri Lanka's bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, as the nominated region is home to the nation's president.

The Nigerian city of Abuja failed to lodge its expected bid by the deadline of March 31, leaving the Gold Coast to compete against the obscure Sri Lankan region of Hambantota, the home town of president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Ms Bligh told reporters on Tuesday that while she knew very little about Hambantota, she regarded it as a very serious competitor.

"You don't put forward the president's home town without the national government being serious about having a go," she said.

Ms Bligh acknowledged that the Gold Coast was where she grew up.

"What I expect is that the Commonwealth Games Federation will be looking for the best possible games, and if you want the best possible games, then the Gold Coast is the best possible place," she said.

2018 CWG: Sri Lanka puts in surprise bid

Sri Lanka submitted its bid for 2018 Commonwealth Games surprising the strong competitor Gold Coast, Australia.

Sri Lanka and Australia are only 2 countries bidding for 2018 Commonwealth Games, as Nigeria failed to submit its official bid by 31-Mar.

Sri Lankan town of Hambantota and Gold Coast both have beautiful beaches but that is about the only thing the Gold Coast and its surprise Commonwealth Games competitor Hambantota have in common.

The southern Sri Lankan city unexpectedly entered the bidding to host the 2018 Games after the Nigerian city of Abuja, in the midst of a political crisis, failed to submit a formal nomination by Thursday morning's deadline.

It will now be up to the Commonwealth Games Federation to decide if the Games come to Australia's sixth-largest city or Hambantota, which was devastated by the 2004 tsunami.

A former Sri-Lankan cricketer and Griffith University academic believes human rights injustices will affect the developing country's Commonwealth Games bid.

Griffith Sports College manager Michael Jeh said Hambantota's bid would likely become a political minefield.

He questioned how the tsunami-devastated, poverty-stricken, war-torn region could justify spending billions on sporting infrastructure when residents were still living in squalid refugee camps and illegally entering Australia by boat.

"There will be international questions about human rights issues ... why boat people are coming to Australia and leaving Sri Lanka in their droves if the living conditions are not that bad.

"If I was living in that sort of hardship, you would think they would sort out the refugee situation before taking the luxurious step of hosting the Commonwealth Games."

Mr Jeh said it would be wildly ambitious for Hambantota to believe facilities could be constructed to host the event in eight years.

"The best analogy to use would be to compare the Coast to Yamba -- a sweet, little, beautiful, sleepy beach town.

"That's seven years to catch up to the Gold Coast and it's taken the Gold Coast 50 years to get where it is."

Mr Jeh said residents had little use for Olympic-sized stadiums and swimming pools and the facilities would likely become a white elephant.

But Brisbane-based Sri Lankan Association past president Hiran Cooray said Sri Lanka would get far greater benefit from hosting the Games than the Coast.

"Sri Lanka is a poor developing country, to get a chance for foreign exchanges to come to them ... it would be a boost," he said.

Australia makes official bid for 2018 CWG

Australia has officially launched its bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. With Trinidad and Tobago pulling out of the race, it might be a two-horse race between the Gold Coast and Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

Australian Commonwealth Games Association president Sam Coffa joined Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Gold Coast mayor Ron Clarke on Wednesday to sign the formal bid lodgment paper, which has been forwarded to the Commonwealth Games Federation in London.

Potential host cities have until the close of business on March 31 London time to put in their expressions of interest.

But Abuja was the only other city that has publicly announced its interest after an expected bid by Auckland, New Zealand, fell through, Mr Coffa said.

Mr Coffa said 2018 was possibly Queensland's "one window of opportunity". Many more bids are expected for the 2022 games as the economies across the world improves.

He said he had considered Auckland to be the frontrunner for the 2018 games, but with their bid not expected to go through, that put Australia "well on the front foot".

"Certainly it's a lot easier (with two candidates) than if you had three. At this stage we know two, we will know tomorrow or the day after whether there has been any (more) expressions." he said

Mr Coffa said the Gold Coast's size and low-cost model may be its best asset after major metropolis had hosted the past four events in Australia.

"I think it's possibly one of the strengths. A regional city can afford and can plan and can organise a successful games. If we did not believe that we stood a reasonable chance, we would have not made a decision to bid.", he said.

If successful, the state government would spend $11 million on its bid and invest more than $1 billion in infrastructure over the next eight years, including an upgraded aquatic centre, new velodrome and athletes' village.

The athletes village would then be sold as residential accommodation, recouping some money.

Ms Bligh said the games would be a shot in the arm for the coast's economy, boosting industry, tourism and the region's ability to host international sporting events and teams.

"I believe we are well placed to win this bid," she said.

She said the games would transform the Gold Coast, as it had done for Brisbane in 1982.

The winning bid will be announced in November 2011. Melbourne was the last Australian host of the Games in 2006. The 2010 Games are in Delhi in October this year and Glasgow in 2014.

Auckland withdraws 2018 CWG bid

Gold Coast's bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games has been boosted after the New Zealand government withdrew its support from Auckland's bid.

A projected loss of up to $NZD600 million ($A459 million) on the event was too great for taxpayers according to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, saying the expense was greater than could be justified.

"The issue is what it costs to run the event," Key said.

"It's very, very expensive and we can't see the economic payback."

That news means Auckland's bid is unlikely to proceed and leaves Gold Coast and the Nigerian capital of Abuja as the only confirmed bidder for the 2018 games.

The successful bidder will be named in November 2011 but Australian Commonwealth Games Association chief executive Perry Crosswhite told AAP on Monday the Gold Coast bid was hindered by the fact that Australia held the last Games in Melbourne in 2006.

"That would be something that people will ask questions about," he said.

"It's not going to be easy because Nigeria, and Africa for that matter, have never had the Games before.

"Every country seems to take their turn ... It's a little bit early. Maybe one Games early."

Trinidad and Tobago to bid for 2018 CWG

Trinidad and Tobago has expressed interest in bidding for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Trinidad and Tobago joins Gold Coast city, Australia as potential bidder for the games. The announcement was made by chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Commonwealth 2010 in Delhi, India’s Suresh Kalmadi, at closed door Sports Breakfast meeting during the recently held Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Trinidad in November.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning in his speech said he would like to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018. When asked what were the main criteria for hosting the games, Kalmadi said a country needs a strong financial backing. “Finance for one. That’s the main thing, and then your determination and will to create international class to the world,” he said.

Asked if T&T would be able to prepare for an event of this magnitude, he said, “It depends on your government. If they are ready to come forward or not.”

The 2010 games, to be held in Delhi, India next October, have already cost India’s government US $2 billion. The event is expected to create 2.5 million jobs and will see more than 100,000 tourists gracing India’s shores.

The host of the 2018 Games will be announced at the General Assembly in Basseterre, St. Kitts in November 2011.