“I am pleased to announce Durban as the host of the 2022 Games, the first to be held on African soil.
Congratulations,” Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) outgoing president Prince Tunku Imran said after the organisation’s general assembly meeting in Auckland.
Edmonton, the only other bid city, withdrew from the race in February for financial reasons, due to the falling oil-price, but the CGF had followed due process. An evaluation commission led by chairperson Louis Martin had recommended to members they vote in favour of Durban’s bid, and the general assembly stamped their approval.
“Good luck to Durban. We are looking forward to working with you,” said Martin, who was voted in as the new CGF president. “As the evaluation commission, we identified 10 key issues (with the bid proposal), and we are pleased to announce these are already being addressed.”
The bid committee planned to host the most “compact” Games, with most sporting venues situated a few kilometres apart, and they hoped existing infrastructure centred around the Moses Mabhida Stadium would keep costs at a minimum.
