Melbourne and Perth emerge as potential 2022 Commonwealth Games hosts

With the South African city of Durban lost the rights to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games due to the rising costs, Melbourne and Perth have indicated a willingness to host the four-yearly event.

With English cities Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester having already confirmed their willingness to host the multi-sport event, the Lord Mayors of Perth and Melbourne have each come out to say their cities should look to host the Games.

Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi told AAP via SBS “an event of the scale of the Commonwealth Games would further enhance Perth as a world-class city and destination and greatly stimulate the economy.

“The city of Perth would definitely support the WA Government if it was to put forward a bid to host the Games.”

Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle advised “we are one of the few cities in the world with existing sporting infrastructure that can cope with a major world event like the Commonwealth Games.”

Gold Coast has ruled out hosting back-to-back Games after staging the 2018 edition, while the ACT and South Australian governments reportedly have no interest.

Melbourne already has the infrastructure to host an event of this size, having last hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2006, while Perth would use its soon-to-be-completed Perth Stadium for the event.

Durban was stripped of the right to stage the 2022 Commonwealth Games on Monday after a trail of missed deadlines and financial problems that highlights the daunting burdens facing host cities for major sporting events.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) said the South African coastal city had failed to meet the promises contained in its bid, and the search for a replacement host was now on.

Facing the prospect of finding a new host city, CGF President Louise Martin stated "the CGF is fully confident and committed to delivering a successful Commonwealth Games for athletes and fans in 2022.”

Image: To be completed in 2018, the new Perth Stadium could be the centrpiece of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

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