Commonwealth Games: “Fostering Peaceful, Sustainable & Prosperous Communities”

June 25, 2019

The Commonwealth Games, whose  22nd edition will take place in Birmingham, England, in 2022, is one of the world’s largest multi-sport events. More than 4,400 athletes took part in the 2018 Games in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, where iSportconnect TV interviewed Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) CEO David Grevemberg and Birmingham 2022 CEO Ian Reid during the recent SportAccord for this in-depth piece.

Among the members of the CGF are some of the world’s largest and smallest countries, from India, with over 1.2 billion people to Niue with a population of 1,600.  More than 60% of the Commonwealth citizens are under 30.

With 95% of the competition venues already in place, Birmingham 2022 will be both prudent and innovative.

An enhanced and refurbished Alexander Stadium will be pivotal to Birmingham 2022 (see the new design below). Capacity will be increased permanently from 12,700 to 18,000, with up to 40,000 during the Games through additional temporary seating.

The Games will also use three indoor arenas: the NEC, NEC Arena and Arena Birmingham.

One of the CGF’s important innovations described in our video has been the creation of a system of knowledge transfer enabling Birmingham and future host cities to build on the experience of previous events.