Gold Coast challenged by Hambantota for 2018 Commonwealth Games 28/09/2010 |
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The coastal city of Hambantota in the south of Sri Lanka may become the smallest ever city to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games due to the strong financial support by China.
It has a population of only 11000, up to 525000 in the surrounding area, but boosts massive investment campaigns by the most populated country in the world because of its key strategic position in the Indian Ocean on the shipping route between the Suez Canal and the Malacca Straits. Last month Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa opened a £973m port project in Hambantota, funded exclusively by China.
Therefore Gold Coast’s Mayor Ron Clarke expressed his concerns that Hambantota will be a strong competitor for the bid to host 2018 Commonwealth Games Federation.
China is supporting them(Hambantota) and China has got lots of money to build new facilities and they have provided facilities and financial assistance to a lot of Commonwealth countries, particularly in Africa," said Clarke.
The Gold Coast’s Mayor revealed that the Chinese investments always influence on votes for a bid and said: “We're in a much more political world than we've ever been”.
The choice of the 2018 Commonwealth Games’s host will be made next year.
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