GLASGOW will not be putting itself forward as an alternative host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games following the decision to strip Durban of the right to host the event. While most of the infrastructure from a hugely successful 2014 games is still in place - the obvious exception being the athletics track at Hampden Park, which has been dismantled - Paul Bush, the chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland and director of events at Visit Scotland, said last night that he feels it is too soon for the games to return to this country. With the South African government failing to meet certain criteria, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on Monday reluctantly took the decision to pull the plug on Durban's bid to host what would have been the first games in Africa.
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While it remains unclear if Edmonton, who withdrew from the running early in the process, will return to the table, Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester have all put themselves forward as alternative hosts, and the feeling is that all three - or a combination of them - would be more appropriate for the 2022 games than a return in such short order to Scotland, which already has significant commitments to hosting major events already in the pipeline, including Glasgow's commitment to co-hosting the European Championships with Berlin in 2018. With no capital building costs, either in Glasgow or Berlin, and athletes being housed in hotels rather than a purpose-built athletes' village, Bush believes this is closer to the model which can continue to make multi sports affordable in the future.
READ MORE: Commonwealth Games at a crossroads but Gold Coast games will be a blast
"There have not been any discussions, and it is highly unlikely that there will be any discussions," Bush told Herald Sport. "I don't think it is about appetite, it is just appropriate in 2022 that the games go to another part of the Commonwealth. Maybe in about 10 or 20 years the games could come back to Scotland. But already a number of cities and countries have indicated their interest. It could be Liverpool, Manchester or Birmingham or a mixture of those. There is real interest in England and hopefully through DCMS and the UK government that can happen. But it is absolutely vital that the CGF find a host for 2022. If not the games are at risk."
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