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Commonwealth Games bid progresses |
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Wednesday, 09 May 2007 |
The prospect of Alex Salmond, potential First Minister, and Bridget McConnell, the wife of the former holder of that office, and chief executive of Glasgow Culture and Sport, travelling together to Sri Lanka for the city’s 2014 Commonwealth Games bid is a tantalising one.
Fortunately for the bid team, it is an issue of protocol that can be
postponed until November when the final decision on who wins the Games
– Glasgow or Abuja, the capital of Nigeria – will be made. For now, it
will be concentrating on the submission of its bid document in London
today and on the coming months when the city will host delegations from
Commonwealth countries and the Games Federation’s Bid Evaluation
Commission.
“I’m cautiously optimistic at this stage,” said Derek Casey, Glasgow’s
bid director. “We’ve made a very strong pitch and I think the key
messages of Glasgow are getting through.”
The city is competing with a campaign emphasising the aspiration to
hold the Games in Africa for the first time. “I respect very much that
Nigeria are making this particular point,” said Casey, “but it’s up to
the voters to decide whether it’s the right time and the right country
to go there in 2014.
“What I’m sure about is that whatever the decision, having met voters
in the last six months I’m positive that their key concern will not be
this geopolitical issue but rather what is the best place for the
athletes and where are the athletes likely to have the performance and
time of their lives.”
By last weekend, the bid team had visited 68 of the 71 Commonwealth
territories (the Falklands, St Helena and Canada have said they will
accept the written bid alone). “We have been very pleased with the
positive response that we have got to the ideas we presented. But
equally, we’ve actually taken a lot of information and ideas from them
about what would make a great Games and hopefully, they will see that
reflected when it comes to the bid document. The key thing that they
have said to us is to above all make sure that this is a very
athlete-centred Games.”
The meetings have, among other things, informed Glasgow’s design of the
athletes’ village, transport and accreditation. The team’s attention to
detail extends to incorporating three bistros in the village, as well
as a central refectory, to provide athletes with greater variety during
their stay and providing ethnic chefs to cook authentic regional
cuisine. “All the way through the bid document you’ll see ideas like
that coming through,” said Casey.
Submission of the 600-page document, called the Candidate’s City File,
which covers technical aspects of the bid, guarantees of infrastructure
provision and details of the venues, will be accompanied today by a
15-minute presentation in London. Abuja will also make its submission.
Delegates will visit both cities over the summer before the final
showdown between the two in the autumn.
Before flying to Sierra Leone for the final Commonwealth nation visit
on the day Scotland went to the polls, Casey said: “We’ve had
extraordinary cross-party support. That makes a big difference – and
the same with the financial commitment and the community commitment;
they are the three strong pillars of a bid. If you’ve got those in
place, you can afford to concentrate on what will make this great for
the athletes.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 09 May 2007 )
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