Politics Could Interfere With Glasgow 2014 CWG Bid
06/08/2007 |
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Commonwealth Games delegates in Glasgow for a four-day visit inspecting the city’s bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games told a press conference Friday they are enjoying their visit to the city.
Steve Stoute, president of the Barbados National Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Associated, who has visited both Glasgow and Abuja, called it a “very productive visit. We have visited amongst other things the site for the Games Village, and the fact that the athletes will be able to walk (to the Opening Ceremony) I think is a major plus because it is always an arduous situation for the Opening Ceremony for the athletes as they are usually held in a holding area for three or four hours. This I think is one of the highlights of the bid”.
He said, “I was here many years ago and there has certainly been a metamorphosis in the city - it is very impressive”.
But according to Midlothian Today he said that voters might be convinced by the idea of at last bringing the Games to Africa, saying, “it could be a difficult decision. There will certainly be an emotional element in it”.
He said, “we should not discard the fact that the Games have never been held in Africa. One of the ideas of having the Games there would be ‘let’s complete the circle’”.
The newspaper reports that Stoute said he “was pleasantly surprised” when he visited Abuja recently. He said, “one can get an adverse reaction when you talk about Africa, but the city of Abuja had very good facilities. The passion of the people to host the Games impressed me”.
According to the newspaper Stoute warned that extra money offered by the West African nation could win the backing of smaller countries. He said Nigeria is offering each country a $125,000 grant towards travel and training. But he was not in favour of such grants. He said he would prefer any money put into a central pot which the Commonwealth Games Federation could then hand out dependant on need.
Meanwhile Falkland Islands’ delegate Patrick Watts said that as a massive football fan, he had enjoyed seeing Celtic Park where the Opening Ceremony would take place, as well as Ibrox Stadium, the home of Rangers FC, which would host Rugby 7s, and was looking forward to taking in Scotland’s National Stadium, Hampden, later today.
He said, “when you realize that there will be events at all three of these venues it does send shivers through you. There is a lot of tradition here in Glasgow so it is an ideal place to hold a Games. Glasgow is more than capable of holding a Games. There is so much in place already and it’s just a case of modernizing some of them. You have all these places already there. Glasgow is ready already to hold a Games”.
(Source: Gamesbids.com)
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