Gold Coast bid chief expecting tough Hambantota fight 14/10/2010 |
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Mark Stockwell, chairman of the Gold Coast 2018 bid, has admitted his team faces a tough fight with Hambantota to secure the 21st Commonwealth Games – despite media reports suggesting the Australian city is the early front-runner.
The Gold Coast stole a march on its rivals at this year’s event in Delhi by taking the opportunity to give a presentation to the 71 countries and territories of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) at a special meeting attended by Prince Edward.
The Hambantota bid team chose not to make a presentation, despite the fact that attendees of the meeting will vote for the city that hosts the 2018 event, sparking claims that the competition is now the Gold Coast’s for the taking.
However, Stockwell dismissed such suggestions, predicting the vote will come right down to the wire.
He told Inside the Games: "I felt that here in Delhi, the time was right to get on the front foot, play a few of our cards and show a little bit of what we’re about and what we have to offer.
"But to say that we’re ahead in the bid race or anything like that is just nonsense and I don’t believe that at all.
"It’s very much a two-horse race and Hambantota are definitely out there lobbying hard for it.
"They haven’t really played their hand yet, so to be honest I don’t really know anything at all about their bid.
"They’re holding their cards very close to their chest but they’ve obviously got their own game plan and they know what they are doing.
"They may not have taken the opportunity to make a presentation on their bid but they have done everything that has been requested of them through the official channels so you can’t ask for much more.
"The best thing we can do though is concentrate on what we can deliver and we’re going to keep fighting as hard as we can.”
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