Durban Chosen as Host City for 2022 Commonwealth Games

The South African city of Durban has officially been selected to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games and will become the first African city to do so. 

The city’s bid was a formality after Canadian city Edmonton withdrew from the bidding process in February, leaving Durban as the only candidate city in the running.

The announcement was made at the at the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) general assembly in Auckland, New Zealand.

New CGF President

The CGF general assembly also saw Scotland’s Louise Martin named as the federation’s new president, beating the incumbent Prince Tunku Imran of Malaysia.

“I want to make sure the best athletes in the Commonwealth make the Games the cornerstone of their calendars,” said Martin, who becomes the first female president of the CGF.

“To achieve everything I want costs money and as we know, our income is under extreme pressure from our expenditure.

“I believe the answer is to open our doors to commercial sponsorship and while it will be difficult I’m convinced that once we sign our first top-tier sponsor, others will follow.”

Outgoing CGF president Prince Tunku Imran said: “As a movement we stand together to support the very first games on African soil.”

The games are scheduled to take place on July 18, 2022, which marks the birthday of former South African president Nelson Mandela, who died in 2013.

The Commonwealth Games will be held in the Gold Coast in Australia in 2018.

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