Glasgow will host the 20th Commonwealth Games from July 23rd to August 3rd. The next Games is due to be held in Australia's Gold Coast in 2018. However to date no nation or city has formally bid to host the 22nd edition in 2022. The closing date for bidding is due in March, but I suspect it will be extended to give cities time to consider launching their bids. The Commonwealth Games (CG) is the 3rd largest multi-sport event in the world after the Olympics and Asian Games. I believe the time is right for Singapore to offer itself as a potential host city.
The CG although originally comprised the 52 member states that make up the Commonwealth, has incorporated participation from former territories and dependencies. 71 such states are now eligible to participate. Given that Singapore has mulled over hosting an Asian Games in the past, it's a good idea to start with the smaller CG first. If successfully hosted, we can go for the Asian Games and hopefully 1 day be in a position to host the crème de le crème itself - the Olympics. However given our size and number core sports that must be included in hosting the Olympics, such as cycling, tennis, rowing, modern pentathlon amongst others, it might not be practical to build arenas for such events only for them to become 'white elephants' later on.
Thus the CG with its much lesser core sports is a more practical option. It only has 10 core sports - athletics, swimming, boxing, netball, badminton, squash, rugby 7s, weightlifting, lawn bowls and field hockey. All these we have arenas that are already available to accommodate them. For sure they will need touching up and increased seating, but essentially we will not have to build new arenas solely for them, unless of course we have plans to develop them already. Glasgow is planning to have 17 sports, this is something we can follow. From the list of recognised sports available for host selection we can choose the events we have infrastructure and athletes who can excel in them. These include soccer, table-tennis, water-polo, sailing, shooting, golf, billiards, archery, fencing, diving and triathlon.
The important thing is that the CG is held after an Olympics (2020, 2024) and not during a World Athletics or Swimming Championships year. Glasgow has got a very god timing, in that this year's event will not clash with the lucrative IAAF Diamond League Athletic races, and being an off year following the World Championships and Olympics in 2013 and 2012 respectively, there's a high chance that some of the world's top athletes will consider participating. Usain Bolt is mulling over it, but there could be a place for someone like David Rudisha (the 1500m Olympic champion who missed the world event due to injury), Jonathan Blake (no 2 ranked sprinter after Bolt) and others who missed out on the previous events due to injuries, or use this as a springboard to the next world championships in 2015 or the Rio Olympics. Then there are some who do not have the CG medal in their portfolio, they too might consider participating. The crucial thing is to plan the Games well and make sure it does not clash with a major event. 2022 is of course a FIFA World Cup year, with Qatar as the hosts. But it appears they might hold it in the winter months of January or February, so the 2022 hosts has to take this into consideration. But the ideal date of a summer games in the months of June and July look a good bet.
Due to the lack of interest in the Games, an emergency CG Council meeting was held in KL on January 31st, to try and prod nations to consider a bid, with the onus on Africa, which has never hosted the Games before. However it remains to be seen whether any African nation is prepared to stump the cash to host the Games. This would be costly for them as they would need basic infrastructure like roads, rail, not to mention stadia and accommodation to be built. Thus far it seems that only South Africa has the ability to host the Games. But I get the feeling they are looking towards an Olympic bid more than anything.
In fact Singapore has been thinking about these Games as mentioned in this report from 2012. Of course this needs Govt approval and a budget needs to be set aside for it. Following the cost over-run for the 2010 YOG, there might be some apprehension in certain quarters about the cost of hosting the CG. Glasgow for example has set aside around $800-900 million for it. However, this includes building 3 new stadia for it and of course the cost of employment is much higher in the West than it is in Asia. If properly managed a budget of $500-600 million should suffice to host this Games. The YOG wasn't popular because it's not a global event that would attract the headlines, and not really lucrative enough to garner TV revenue from broadcasting rights. That was something Ng Ser Miang and Minister Balakrishnan failed to see or realise, but I doubt the CG would suffer the same fate.
But the cost would pale in comparison in what it would do for local sports. It will be give the core sports mentioned and the 6 or 7 others that we could choose (obviously ones we are good at) a huge boost. It's 8 years away, ample time to start grooming local talent. It'll give these athletes a huge fillip and a chance to send more representatives to the 2024 or 2028 Olympics. It'll give us a real shot at winning CG gold medals and possibly thereafter some Olympics ones (irrespective of colour). It'll give more local athletes the chance to compete against some of the best and upcoming stars in these events, something we have been severely limited, because we can only send a fraction to these kind of overseas Games.
And there's a chance with TV coverage (and revenue) and huge feel good factor hosting such an event, it'll will truly put Singapore on the map and attract the right kind of tourists. With the new sports hub and stadium opening soon, this will be the perfect event for it to play host to. So come then, let's be a good sport and put ourselves forward. If a smaller city like KL could do it in 1998, why not Singapore in 2022 or 2026?
Sir Nelspruit
*The writer blogs at http://anyhowhantam.blogspot.sg/