Glasgow will be looking its best in July as the Commonwealth nations come together in a celebration of sport and association.
The decision of where to hold the Commonwealth Games is made by the Commonwealth Games Foundation (CGF) at its General Assembly, seven years in advance of the Games. This gives the host enough time to design and build the physical infrastructure required to stage a Games, that doesn’t just mean stadia but also accommodation for the athletes and transport links for the thousands of spectators.
The candidate city manual for the 2014 Games was published in 2005 so that potential hosts could think carefully about the nature of their bid. Large sporting events are highly prized since they provide fantastic exposure for the host city which raises international prestige and provides other economic benefits such as revenue from tourism. With this in mind the CGF requires compelling reasons before they award the honour of hosting a Games.
Immovable deadline
Top of the list is feasibility. The deadline is immovable and if the infrastructure isn’t ready, the Games won’t run. It’s not even as if they can be postponed since they have to be fitted into other timetables not just for sport but also for availability of workforces such as volunteers and policing etc. First and foremost a candidate city must be able to demonstrate that it can meet the high standards required and within the timeframe provided.
A number of cities considered submitting bids for the 2014 Games including five from Canada, bids from Birmingham and Sheffield in England as well as Cardiff and Edinburgh. As the deadline for applications got closer, the three cities that submitted bids were Glasgow, Abuja (Nigeria) and Halifax (Canada).
The then First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell, formally announced Glasgow’s intention to host the Games on 16 August 2005 although it was Abuja in Nigeria that was initially thought of as the favourite since an African country has never hosted the Games.
The final decision on who was to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games was taken in Sri Lanka in 2007 with Glasgow polling 47 votes to Abuja’s 24 in the GCF ballot, producing a striking majority.
Old and new
The Glasgow bid mixed ideas of heritage and modernity in what could be considered a ‘regenerative bid’; in other words, a bid that was both financially feasible but that would also benefit an enormous number of people through the creation of new infrastructure. The bid from Glasgow could already boast excellent sporting venues including Celtic Park, Ibrox and Hampden Park but it also came with the guarantee of a new indoor arena as well as a cycling velodrome. In many ways Glasgow was a ‘safe’ bet simply because much of the work had already been done and for many of the venues it was just a question of adapting them to suit (some on a temporary basis). Meanwhile the east end of Glasgow will benefit from new housing after the Games in the shape of the Athletes’ Village although the rumoured extension of the Glasgow subway never took shape.
Glasgow has never hosted such a large international multi sport event as the Commonwealth Games. Even so, the city has shown good form on several occasions having hosted events like the 1990 European Indoor Athletics Championships and the inaugural Commonwealth Youth Games in 2000 as well as notable football fixtures including for the national side and European club finals. Some of the new 2014 venues have already hosted international level sport too.
Modern bids also have to prove that they are inclusive in line with the ethos and values of the CGF. This is likely to be one of the successes during and after the 2014 Games. Not only does the Glasgow Games have the largest para-sport schedule of any Commonwealth Games to date but all of the venues have been either designed or upgraded to reflect full social inclusion.
Finally, it’s important to say that this summer’s Commonwealth Games is not going to be London 2012-version two. Although lessons will have been learnt from London’s hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Glasgow can only do things Glasgow’s way. The current slogan for Glasgow is that: ‘People Make Glasgow’ and that’s the thing that you’ll notice most about the host city this summer. Just as the smallest details are important in the biggest venues, so it takes people to bring an event like this to life and to make it memorable. Glasgow is ready.