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What Will Secure The Future Of The Commonwealth Games


  

31 members have voted

  1. 1. What are your 3 options to secure future CGs after 2014

    • Reduce the size of the games (less athletes, smaller venues)
    • Institute a technical evaluation team as per the IOC
    • Change the schedule to run the CGs out of Olympic or WC years
    • Set a maximum budget for venue construction/reuse existing structures
    • Change the focus to a youth CG format
      0
    • Invite non-Commonwealth nations to participate
    • Remove the current board and executives and begin anew
    • Change the sports line up to focus on Commonwealth sports (e.g cricket, netball)
    • Form a Commonwealth Games Broadcasting body a la the Olympic Broadcasting Organisation
    • Other


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Seb Coe has said that Glasgow has 'saved the Commonwealth Games' BBC described it as an opportunity for cities to host an event that is 'Proud, passionate and within their means'.

I agree completely, Glasgow has showed that the Commonwealth Games can be successful.

I think it would be interesting to see what would happen if they let the States and Hong Kong participate. I know some will think that it would add too many athletes and in the case of the US take away the opportunity of more countries getting medals, but I think that US participation could possibly help the organization.Not to mention I would love to see a CWG here in the states <grin>

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Constitutionally, the USA cannot enter unless the British Monarch is removed as the figurehead leader from the Commonwealth. The invitation to attend the games is still open but I would think Americans would find it a strange experience. Apart from Gymnastics, Swimming and Athletics, would feel out of place?

Ireland, on the other hand would slot in easy, just a shame they dont want to. Hong Kong back in would be great...Such a shame they never hosted. Myanmar/Burma, another back in in due time. Zimbabwe, well, just a waiting game isn't it?

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Constitutionally, the USA cannot enter unless the British Monarch is removed as the figurehead leader from the Commonwealth. The invitation to attend the games is still open but I would think Americans would find it a strange experience.

Congress can easily get around that if they want to.

The real problem is immigration. The USA won't accept an open border with Canada because of its immigration policy (and the Canadians may not want one either) since it would allow Pakistanis to enter the country without background checks to see if they are terrorists. To be clear I'm not saying that is a good reason to avoid closer relations with Canada and the Anglo nations; it's simply the stated position of the government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Immigrants_Act_1968

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Would there be any benefit at all for the US to enter the Commonwealth? I highly doubt it, and don't tell me the best reason would be that they'd be able to take part in the CWG...

Yes, that would be the only reason. Unless they're really keen on having their "own" royals. Not like they'd need to use its diplomatic channels or aid.

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Congress can easily get around that if they want to.

The real problem is immigration. The USA won't accept an open border with Canada because of its immigration policy (and the Canadians may not want one either) since it would allow Pakistanis to enter the country without background checks to see if they are terrorists. To be clear I'm not saying that is a good reason to avoid closer relations with Canada and the Anglo nations; it's simply the stated position of the government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Immigrants_Act_1968

Since when does the Commonwealth of Nations have anything to do with immigration or open boarders? Australia has an almost universally closed boarder (about as restrictive as the American boarder controls). India also has a pretty closed boarder as well. Canadians need visas to enter Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon as well. Acts of Westminster have absolutely no barring on Canadian policy or policy of any member of the Commonwealth or the Commonwealth Realms.

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I don't think making the Games smaller will help. I also don't think there is no point in inviting Non-Commonwealth Countries to participate, otherwise it won't be the Commonwealth Games, like Japan wouldn't participate in the European Games, or Finland to the Pan American Games (Just some examples).

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I don't think making the Games smaller will help. I also don't think there is no point in inviting Non-Commonwealth Countries to participate, otherwise it won't be the Commonwealth Games, like Japan wouldn't participate in the European Games, or Finland to the Pan American Games (Just some examples).

First, your grammar is horrific

Second, the US/Commonwealth Games debate is not the same as those examples that you listed. The US has ties to the British Empire that qualify them to compete. Finland has no ties to the Americas, and Japan has no ties to Europe. Those arguments are ridiculous.

Edited by ofan
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First, your grammar is horrific

Second, the US/Commonwealth Games debate is not the same as those examples that you listed. The US has ties to the British Empire that qualify them to compete. Finland has no ties to the Americas, and Japan has no ties to Europe. Those arguments are rediculous.

You obviously can't read. How many times have I told You that I have learning difficulties?

Ridiculous (Correction).

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...How many times have I told You that I have learning difficulties?

Quite the statement...:o

Tony if you'd have tracked back half a dozen posts you would've picked up the drift of the story citing that even if the USA were to attend they would find them pointless...also the relevancy of the CWGs amoungst the other second tier regional tournaments and their placevin what every here identify as the four year Olympic cycle.

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You obviously can't read. How many times have I told You that I have learning difficulties?

Ridiculous (Correction).

Tony, don't use that as an excuse. I get that you have difficulties, but you can still try to work on them.

I don't think making the Games smaller will help. I also don't think there is no point in inviting Non-Commonwealth Countries to participate, otherwise it won't be the Commonwealth Games, like Japan wouldn't participate in the European Games, or Finland to the Pan American Games (Just some examples).

Ridiculous assessment, The US has ties to the empire. Now is it a good idea for them to join the games? Depends on how you look at it. On one hand you could say that they showcase the strong friendship the United States has built up with Britain over the past 100 years and the US could inject some vibrancy to the event if they were to stage them. Other then that there is no real benefit of them joining.

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There are two reasons I don't see the US participating:

1.) The US has no interest in being seen as tied to the British Commonwealth in any way. In fact, I think they'd prefer to distance themselves.

2.) The PanAms are roughly equivalent in scale and quality to the CWG and the US is not heavily invested in the PanAms. There is little interest in hosting and typically the US sends second-tier athletes. Why would they choose to participate in another event that is basically more of the same thing? The interest isn't there.

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There are two reasons I don't see the US participating:

1.) The US has no interest in being seen as tied to the British Commonwealth in any way. In fact, I think they'd prefer to distance themselves.

2.) The PanAms are roughly equivalent in scale and quality to the CWG and the US is not heavily invested in the PanAms. There is little interest in hosting and typically the US sends second-tier athletes. Why would they choose to participate in another event that is basically more of the same thing? The interest isn't there.

...and really, in the end, the USA just doesn't care.

Their Athletes are spread out globally with Diamond League T&F events, FINA swimming comps, Gymnastics tournaments, not to mention internal tournaments galore.

What we saw in Glasgow was the event trying to shoehorn into a new position of relevance...ie a pointer to the next OSGs and giving the more obscure "old empire" sports, like Bowls, a pinnical event for those that compete in it to aspire to outside it's own unwatched World Champs.

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There are two reasons I don't see the US participating:

1.) The US has no interest in being seen as tied to the British Commonwealth in any way. In fact, I think they'd prefer to distance themselves.

It is the Commonwealth not the British Commonwealth.

Personally I think the appeal of the Commonwealth Games is their smaller scale and friendly nature. That would be lost with any major expansion which is neither necesarry nor desirable.

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It is the Commonwealth not the British Commonwealth.

Personally I think the appeal of the Commonwealth Games is their smaller scale and friendly nature. That would be lost with any major expansion which is neither necesarry nor desirable.

Well like Athens said, we have the PanAms which are relatively the same scale and scope.

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I believe the Commonwealth Games are Perfect as they are. Yes, there was issues with Delhi 2010, but what Sporting Organisation doesn't have issues? IOC does, Fifa does, Commonwealth Games Federation does, Pan American Games does, Asian Games does etc. I think the Sports should stay the same, Requirements should stay the same and the Commonwealth Games are very important. IMO, the Commonwealth Games are the Second Biggest Multi Sport Event in the World, behind the Summer Olympics.

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It is the Commonwealth not the British Commonwealth.

Personally I think the appeal of the Commonwealth Games is their smaller scale and friendly nature. That would be lost with any major expansion which is neither necesarry nor desirable.

Come on. That's splitting hairs. There's a reason the queen traditionally opens the Commonwealth games.

As for "friendly "nature, the Commonwealth games are so friendly that the level of competition is pretty weak.

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Even then the US is still common wealth...at least the original 13...we are just the ones that had the balls to ditch it, start our own Empire, and take the empires place in the balance of Geo-politics.

<sarcasm>

:D you guy's were/are totally crap at it! :D
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  • 7 months later...

First there was Agenda 2020... now Transformation 2022:

Commonwealth Games transformed to attract aspiring cities

Commonwealth Games Federation CEO David Grevemberg explains how the CGF is transforming its sporting movement by engaging with cities and streamlining the sports programme.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has launched an ambitious plan called “Transformation 2022” to optimise its sporting movement over the next seven years.

“Now is the time to be ambitious and bold, as we build on our diverse heritage and forward momentum," said CGF president HRH Prince Imran.

A network of Commonwealth cities is being set up to identify, support and engage with cities that are aspiring to host the Games or develop their sports.

The issue of good governance also features in the strategic plan.

The sports programme for the Commonwealth Games has been reviewed for the next three Games, with the number of optional sports proposed to be reduced by 10 and the number of compulsory sports to go up by six.

Sports that are proposed to be dropped from the programme include tennis and sailing, while cricket is set to makes a return in the T20 format.

“A number of core principles drove the proposals, such as depth and scale of participation in the Commonwealth, legacy (especially with regard to the need for purpose-built venues), equality (including increased opportunities for para-sport athletes) and breadth of competition, maximising opportunities for smaller CGAs to win medals,” a spokesperson for the Commonwealth Games Federation told HOST CITY.

Commonwealth Sports Cities Network

A core feature of the strategic plan is “to deliver inspirational and innovative Commonwealth Games built on Commonwealth Games and Youth Games, built on friendships and a proud heritage supported by a dynamic Commonwealth sports cities network.”

David Grevemberg, CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation told HOST CITY: “By 2017 we want to have developed and started to implement a Commonwealth sporting network – to identify, support and engage with cities that are aspiring to host the Games and sport in the Commonwealth.

“So this notion of using sport as the new ‘shipping lane’ to make communities and nations prosperous, peaceful and happy – in order to do that we need to be able transfer, from a city to city basis, what is working and where challenges lie – whether that’s an emerging market, a regenerative market or a sustained market.

“There’s a group already in place called the Commonwealth local governments forum that we’ll be looking to partner with in that area.”

Transforming the sports programme

Previously there were 10 compulsory sports and 20 optional ones. The CGF is now proposing 16 compulsory and 10 optional sports.

Under the proposal, 10 of the previously compulsory sports remain compulsory. These are: aquatics (swimming, inc. para swimming); athletics (inc. para athletics); badminton; boxing (men); hockey; lawn bowls (inc. para lawn bowls); netball; rugby sevens (men and women); squash; and weightlifting.

Six sports that were previously optional have been made compulsory. These are: road cycling; artistic gymnastics; judo; table tennis; triathlon; and wrestling.

Women’s boxing and women’s rugby, previously optional, have also been made compulsory.

The biggest changes proposed are to the optional sports, which have been reduced in number significantly. Aquatics (diving), aquatics (open water swimming) aquatics (synchronised swimming), canoeing, rowing, sailing, softball, tennis, tenpin bowling and taekwondo would no longer feature in the Commonwealth Games programme for 2022, 2026, and 2030.

None of these disciplines set to be removed from the sports programme feature as part of the current Durban 2022 bid proposals.

T20 cricket, wheelchair basketball, para triathlon and para table tennis are new options on the sports programme.

Cricket has only featured in the Commonwealth Games once before, when a 50-over format was included at Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

The introduction of T20 Cricket is an indication that the CGF is promoting sports that are more widely practiced within the Commonwealth nations.

“We are proposing a mechanism of being able to attract top athletes, creating a Commonwealth rating system by sport that helps not only to promote great sport in the Commonwealth but also to assess how widely they are practiced in different nations,” Grevemberg told HOST CITY.

“We aim to maximise efficiency and effectiveness in our delivery of a world class event with real community relevance that is both affordable and universally appealing.”

“We feel that stabilising a sustainable sports programme for a period of time, by increasing the number of compulsory sports, helps us to get more efficiencies of scale, by giving us greater certainty in terms of proposing an athletes’ quota system. It allows us to create a more certain product in terms of what we are presenting."

CGF vice president and chair of the CGF sport committee Bruce Robertson said: “The Sports Programme proposals also have important operational benefits, including a higher degree of certainty in athlete numbers and more flexibility in the optional sports programme, which we believe will support future Host Cities and CGAs in their Games planning.”

The CGF is looking to continue to work with sports not on the Games programme through a new recognised designation of affiliation with the Commonwealth Games Federation for International Federations (IFs).

“It’s our intention to work with other IFs on developing sport in the Commonwealth,” said Grevemberg. “The movement is much broader than just the Games.”

The new proposed sports programme will be voted on at the CGF General Assembly in New Zealand in September.

Host City

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In terms of the future of the Commonwealth Games, there are three elements that will secure the future:

  • Strengthening the commercial aspect of the Games, improving marketing and exercising stricter control over Host Cities
  • After the disaster that was Delhi 2010, I think it's inevitable that the requirements for Host Cities need to be tightened - realistically, that means that the Commonwealth Games should (for the foreseeable future) no longer be held in developing nations. In other words, we're looking at the traditional Anglophone nations: the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada; possibly, one might want to add Singapore and Malaysia to the list. So, if nations like India ever want to host the CWG again, they'd have to demonstrate that they are up for playing on a much steeper (and realistic field).
  • Finally, a much tougher evaluation process needs to be brought in; overall, the CWG could benefit from professionalising its operations and no longer seeing itself as an extension of the Commonwealth of Nations, but rather the umbrella organization of an international multi-sports event instead. Also, the whole idea of pick-and-mix sporting programmes looks laughable. The Olympics only have mandatory sports. Why should host nations be able to gerrymander events according to their liking?
  • The Commonwealth Games need to become a real warm-up for the bigger challenge of the Olympics, both from the vantage point of the Host City AND the athletes and federations involved.

It will take much more than warm words to revive the Commonwealth Games movement. Glasgow was a welcome respite, but it's no long-term fix for a declining idea suffering from an excess of political correctness and failing to just accept the fact that some nations need more time before they can seriously be considered as hosts.

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