Was it Durban’s Fault?

[Sir Rols]

Let’s play a game of what if?

Let’s say Durban had kept the 2022 Commonwealth Games. They went off… well, however they would have went off… but the games were concluded, Africa had finally hosted the games, and right now we’d be looking forward to Birmingham, who’s been preparing for their 2026 games since 2019 (or thereabouts). There’s still low level grumbling around about the relevance of the games, particularly after the passing of Elizabeth II, but they appear to be on steady-ish ground and we’re either also looking forward to whoever was recently a named as host of the centenary games, or awaiting an imminent decision on where they’ll go, or perhaps even expressing some concerns if I someone will be found, but far from panic stations or writing the games’ epitaph yet. 

Now, we all know what happened instead. Durban was stripped/abandoned the CWGs, a rushed replacement was found (which performed spectacularly, it must be said), a new rush replacement was sought for 2026, found, then dumped them again, and right now it’s looking like writing the CWG’s obituary doesn’t feel that far fetched any more. Was Durban the first domino in the games’ death knell?  Do you think it all would have worked out differently, like in my hypothetical situation above, if they had actually committed to it?

That said, I do imagine that had Durban 2022 proceeded, it would have been problematic. South Africa was struggling with a huge wave of covid about the time, so a postponement  or cancellation may have been likely. Even in a world where covid didn’t happen, it likely would have had other issues - social inequality, corruption, water etc. But I also think we’d be looking at the situation way differently now. Heck, we might even still be evaluating Durban as a future Olympic host. What do others think?

Edited March 3 by Sir Rols

[baron-pierreIV]

I think it's that dumb idea of The (Monarch's) Baton that has killed the CWG.  They could get away with it while QE2 was alive -- the Queen's Baton, OK!  But now that it's back to a male, so the King's Baton will certainly elicit a lot of laughs, guffaws and snickering from the TV host commentators.  And now, Charles II has cancer (is it of the prostate), the idea of the "King's Baton" (even if the crown passes to William) has to go.  It's such a poor copy of the Olympic Torch.  How about a screed; or to be more up-to-date but visually un-dynamic, the King's e-tablet? 

The "waters" idea of the Med Games is OK symbolically but kinda "weah" for TV.  

[Rob2012]

5 hours ago, Sir Rols said:

and right now we’d be looking forward to Birmingham, who’s been preparing for their 2026 games since 2019

Or Liverpool, which was also gearing up for 2026, which also looked at 2022 when Durban failed to deliver, but which was deemed too risky at short notice for 2022.

It would've utilised Everton's new stadium - similar to Manchester 2002, one end left open during construction, track built then removed after the Games. As it is, that stadium is now nearly finished, but the plans with the track looked almost identical architecture-wise...so we could've been gearing up for this...

 

Edited March 3 by Rob2012

[StefanMUC]

Liverpool got Eurovision 2023 and made a stunning job of it. A far better deal IMHO. 

[Scotguy II]

If it wasn't Durban then it would be another.

Durbans withdrawal certainly did not help, but ultimately the situation that the CWG are in i think is inevitable. COVID may have impacted the 2022 event more if the games had stayed with Durban, due to there difference in strategy for the pandemic as supposed to the UK.

Also the games over the last 30 years either had slim bidders or where given outright to a single host with no bidding so this situation was looming for a very long time.

[Sir Rols]

What if the mighty Abuja had got them? Maybe not in 2014, but instead of sulking had gone on and won 2018 instead of the Gold Coast (in which case we may not be talking about Brisbane 2032 these days)?

[StefanMUC]

1 hour ago, Sir Rols said:

What if the mighty Abuja had got them? Maybe not in 2014, but instead of sulking had gone on and won 2018 instead of the Gold Coast (in which case we may not be talking about Brisbane 2032 these days)?

What about that obscure place in Sri Lanka? Imagine if that had happened…

[Nacre]

The Commonwealth is simply less important today than it was ten years ago, let alone fifty.

An underrated part of why Russia's "operation" in Ukraine went sideways is that the portion of the population in Ukraine that grew up in the Soviet Union is continually declining, and the generation that grew up in post-Soviet era wants to integrate with the EU and not Russia - meanwhile the decision makers in Moscow are all old men who grew up in the USSR. A similar effect has already taken place in the Commonwealth with increasing numbers of Canadians, South Africans, and generally everyone but Little Englanders identifying less and less with the British Empire.

Durban dropping out is probably more an effect of this change than it is a cause of it.

Edited March 4 by Nacre

[Australian Kiwi]

I think the CGF overestimated themselves in stripping Durban. In fact, I think if they knew what they knew now they would have done whatever they could to make it work. 

The problem started earlier. If it weren't for Glasgow and Gold Coast, the CGF would have had to contend with the prospect of accepting solo bids from Abuja and Hambantota for 2014 and 2018- which probably would have made the problems they had with Durban look like a cake walk. 

I would even say that the slow death began in the 1990s when CGF overlooked these problems and got high on their own supply from a line up of big cities with near Olympic-scale plans (Kuala Lumpur, Manchester, Melbourne, Delhi), hiding the reality that there were very few cities stepping up (eg. Manchester and Melbourne were solo bidders for 2002 and 2006).

[Rob2012]

1 minute ago, Australian Kiwi said:

I think the CGF overestimated themselves in stripping Durban. In fact, I think if they knew what they knew now they would have done whatever they could to make it work. 

The South African OC went ahead with their bid without government support, assuming it would come, and then after they'd won it they asked the government for funds and they sad "nope". It was pretty farcical and it was a dead duck from that point. I'm not sure the CGF really had any choice but to strip them, and as it happened it worked out with Birmingham doing a fab job.

In truth, the CGF are living a hand to mouth existence; they had to worry about 2022 at that point, not long-term knock on effects on Birmingham slotting into 2022 and leaving 2026 empty.

Is it Durban's fault? Sort of, in their amateur way they seeded a lot of chaos. But they were also the only bid, so this was going to come to a head at some point regardless.

[Alexjc]

The push (by others) for South Africa to host the Commonwealth Games began almost immediately after the election of Nelson Mandela as President.

The country was pretty much at year zero and in a state of economic flux as all of a sudden, the World wanted in.

It really only could've hosted the event from 2010 onwards as Fifa WC facilities were built during the 2000s. 

Cape Town 2014 was the missed opportunity IMHO... Why the most powerful country in Africa (at that time) acquiesced to Nigeria and its Abuja bid clearly showed a return favour over the 2010 WC. 

By the time Durban's amazing stadium, bid to host 2022 came around, the SA economy was in serious trouble...We had no idea of the global trauma that was coming, Durban needed Pretoria to help with costs. Durban pulling out early was probably a good thing...We got Birmingham, which I feel were the best games of the 21st century. (just, Manchester, just)

BUT, moving forward...It's done and the CGF should focus on the Youth events for the future.

 

 

Edited March 15 by Alexjc

[Sir Rols]

Well, actually, South Africa never ever really showed much interest in bidding for the Commonwealth Games. Durban was more pushed to put it’s hand up and got them by default.

In 2014, it was all driven by Sam Ramsamy who uniltaterally declared that 2022 was “reserved” for Africa (the CGF never said such a thing, and never backed up that claim(), then went round Africa trying to drum up support. Nigeria were still sulking, Kenya said no, and only the Durban municipal authorities showed much interest. The SA National Gvernment was never enthusiastic, ultimately leading to the plug being pulled after the fact when they refused to give financial support or guarantees.

I don’t know if you can call it an amazing bid.  There had the Moses Madhiba in place as a great centrepiece, and the aquatics centre and a plan for a seaside village, but beyond that were pretty constrained - they dug their heels in over their outdoors velodrome (or likely more to the point knew they couldn’t fund anything better). In a good year, with political support, it likely would have been a successful games. But 2022 turned out to be anything but a god year for South Africa.  

Edited March 14 by Sir Rols

[FYI]

I was mainly excited for Durban 2022, cause it could've been used as a springboard (along with the experience from the FIFA 2010 WC) for an Olympic bid. But alas, it just wasn't meant to be (at least for another long while anyway). 

[yoshi]

It's a real shame that these Games have never been held in Africa. I still feel like Durban should've been helped rather than dumped, although obviously come 2020/21 there'd have been even more problems as COVID hit SA so hard, so with hindsight it was probably for the best - but the CGF couldn't have known that when they pulled out of Durban. And Birmingham did do a great job of it in the end. I saw an article not long ago saying that Nairobi is becoming an important economic centre with digital etc - could they host if the event survives? Maybe 2034, even 30? It'd be quite poetic to mark the centennial not by returning home to Canada, or to the royals in London, but by finally heading to a thriving national capital in Africa...

Edited March 14 by yoshi

[Australian Kiwi]

8 hours ago, FYI said:

I was mainly excited for Durban 2022, cause it could've been used as a springboard (along with the experience from the FIFA 2010 WC) for an Olympic bid. But alas, it just wasn't meant to be (at least for another long while anyway). 

I definitely left a vacuum in the future Olympic roster of hosts. Durban is another city that would have been a logical 2032 host.

[Roger87]

I said before, with the death of Elizabeth II it meant the death of an era. 

[Australian Kiwi]

Found this article from 10 years ago - before **** hit the fan with Durban 2022, Victoria 2026, etc... 

Commonwealth Games: Lack of interest in hosting future Games

 

22 January 2014

The Commonwealth Games Federation is concerned about a lack of interest from member countries in hosting future Games.

So far, no member country has expressed serious interest in hosting the 2022 event ahead of a March deadline.

Some of the 70 members believe in-fighting threatens the CGF's future.

A CGF spokesman said an Extraordinary General Meeting was being held in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, at which "issues will be fully aired and resolved".

The 20th Games begin in Glasgow on 23 July, with Australia's Gold Coast due to host in 2018.

Money is the major factor in all bids - the Glasgow Games is estimated to cost over £500m to stage - and it is understood the global financial climate may be discouraging nations from bidding.

There are fears a major dispute over governance between the federation and its members could also be having a detrimental effect on interest.

One member nation's association president, who did not want to be named, told the BBC: "The current situation is not good.

"The fear is that, unless there are significant changes in the governance and management of the CGF, the future of the Games themselves may be in doubt."

When asked about the lack of interest in hosting the 2022 Games, a spokesman for the CGF said: "Clearly there is a lot of speculation from various sources and from around a half a dozen countries at the moment, but the deadline for [formal] bid lodgement is not until 2 March, 2015.

"The decision in relation to the award of the 2022 Games won't be taken until our General Assembly in New Zealand in September 2015. That's a long way off."

On the alleged in-fighting, he said: "I don't think it's correct to describe it as a dispute, although clearly there are specific issues."

The spokesman said that 38 recommendations had been made as a result of a strategic review, 30 of which were accepted by CGF members.

However, he added: "Eight, which are within the public domain, were tabled for discussion at our Extraordinary General Meeting. These issues will be fully aired and resolved there."

The EGM is to be hosted by the CGF president Tunku Imran, a Malaysian prince who has plans to move the organisation from London to Malaysia for tax purposes.

In-fighting has intensified in recent weeks following a secret letter from the chairman of Commonwealth Games England, Sir Andrew Foster, to a number of other nations including Scotland, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The letter was sent in a bid to gauge the level of opposition to the board and highlighted a number of issues, including:

• Concerns over the conduct of the CGF board

• A pattern where members are not listened to

• Concerns the CGF is out of touch with its membership

His letter also states that members were not consulted on decisions such as the proposed change of office to Malaysia.

Foster said: "We are currently concerned that there appears to be very few candidates for the 2022 games."

After the letter was leaked to the CGF, Imran, also a member of the International Olympic Committee, claimed Foster's comments were "discourteous, disingenuous and bordering on defamation".

Members of the Commonwealth have been competing together in a sporting capacity since the first Empire Games back in 1930.