Is the year 2022 cursed when it comes to hosting a major sporting event? The race for the Winter Games has been reduced since last fall to just two competitors, Almaty and Beijing. And there is only one left, Durban, in the running to organize the Commonwealth Games in 2022. A delegation from its bid committee traveled to London to submit, this Monday, March 2, its thick dossier during a very symbolic ceremony at the official residence of the mayor of the English capital. A prerequisite for a designation which is now no longer in doubt. It is scheduled to take place on September 2 in Auckland, New Zealand.
The Durban 2022 delegation presented this Monday at noon in London includes the main leaders of the South African project: Gideon Sam, the president of the national Olympic committee, Mark Alexander, the boss of the candidacy committee, Fikile Mbalula, the South African minister of Sports, and finally the swimmer Cameron van der Burgh, designated ambassador of the project. In his trunks, a 600-page document, the application file. Since the withdrawal of the Canadian city of Edmonton, justified by budgetary reasons, its content appears almost anecdotal. The South Africans are guaranteed to win, due to lack of competition.
However, the matter is not quite closed for the Durban 2022 team. Tubby Reddy, the executive director of the bid, explained this at the end of last week: “We no longer have to fight against another city, but against ourselves.” Just another way of indicating that the greatest opposition is undoubtedly within the country itself, where the idea of spending a few hundred million on a sporting event does not appeal to everyone. In South Africa, a quarter of the working population is currently unemployed. And the effects of the 2010 Football World Cup on the economy are still awaited.
No wonder, therefore, that the project leaders have been insisting for several days on the reduced cost of the Commonwealth Games and their consequences in terms of jobs and foreign exchange earnings. Gideon Sam, the president of the national Olympic committee, says: “Durban already has 95% of the necessary equipment. The Games will be very affordable. And they can pay off big. » According to the application file, the event could create around 12.000 direct jobs. A study shows that visitors spend at least 900 million euros, a turnover that would be further increased by revenue from ticketing, marketing and television rights.
If successful, the 2022 Commonwealth Games would begin on July 18, the anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela. They would last 12 days. Most of the competition venues would be located within a 2,5 km radius of the Moses Mahbida stadium, built for the 2010 World Cup.
One question remains: will the now certain victory of Durban 2022 constitute the final step before South Africa's bid for the 2024 Games? At this stage of the process, the answer remains unclear. Sam Ramsamy, the historic South African member of the IOC, has been calling for this for a long time. But caution prevails in the South African camp. Tubby Reddy warns against the risk of weaving a strong link between the two events. “In terms of costs, the Olympic Games are on a whole new level,” he explained to the national press. For a gymnastics hall, we would need to provide 15.000 places. At the Commonwealth Games it would only take about 5.”
