The U.K. Government "agreed to back Birmingham's bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and guarantee costs" that could total £750M ($1.03B), according to the London TELEGRAPH. Birmingham City Council "will have to fund a quarter of that but the rest of the budget will be provided by central government." Earlier this month, an expert panel working on behalf of the Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport "recommended Birmingham's pitch for the event over a bid from Liverpool." That recommendation has been approved, with Treasury backing, and Birmingham's bid was formally submitted by Commonwealth Games England to the Commonwealth Games Federation on Saturday. With putative bids from Australia and Canada "fading away and Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur now signalling it is more interested in a push" for '26, Birmingham 2022 "would appear to be a done deal" (TELEGRAPH, 9/29). The BBC's Dan Roan reported U.K. Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said that the government believes Birmingham hosting the CWG "would provide value for money." She said, "The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham would be brilliant. It would showcase the best of Britain to the world and make the entire country proud." Birmingham's proposal to create the U.K.'s largest permanent athletics stadium, "supplemented by four indoor arenas, is central to its bid" (BBC, 9/29). In Birmingham, Neil Elkes reported the deadline for cities to submit bids passed on Saturday "with just the one hat in the ring." Despite being a one-horse race, Birmingham "must still convince" the CGF it has "the facilities and finances to deliver the major global sporting event before it can be officially named as host city in November" (BIRMINGHAM MAIL, 10/1). The BBC reported Birmingham City Council said that services "will not be affected" by the financing of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The BCC "is struggling to resolve a long-running pay dispute with its bin workers, but is confident it can be the major contributor" toward a potential £180M ($240.9M) local bill for the Games. The organization said that it "could not provide a breakdown of costs but guaranteed services would not be affected" (BBC, 10/1).
