Liverpool is "ready to stage the 2022 Commonwealth Games after Durban warned it could be forced to surrender the event," according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH. Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson wrote to the Government last month "to inform it of the city's intention to step in" if the games were "left without a host." Durban was awarded the event in Sept. '15, "having been the sole bidder following the withdrawal of Edmonton, Canada." But South Africa Minister of Sport & Recreation Fikile Mbalula announced on Tuesday the country "could not afford to put on an event it had declared itself 'fully committed' to hosting barely two months earlier." Mbalula said, "We gave it our best shot but we can't go beyond. If the country says we don't have this money, we can't" (TELEGRAPH, 2/28). REUTERS' Wendell Roelf reported South Africa was "forced to reconsider whether it could host the event due to doubts over the economic legacy" of the games and "sluggish growth." The government estimated that the games "could deliver up to" 20B rand ($1.53B) in "output to the economy." Mbalula: "I don't want to raise your expectations and say everything looks good, it doesn't because we don't agree on the fundamentals and that is the operational budget" (REUTERS, 2/28).
