GOLD COAST, Australia: Australia was celebrating Saturday after Queensland’s Gold Coast was chosen to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games over Sri Lanka’s Hambantota.
Thousands of people gathered at Gold Coast’s Broadwater Parklands erupted in jubilation as the announcement was shown live from the Commonwealth Games Federation’s general assembly in the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis.

“My sincere congratulations to Gold Coast—theirs was a fantastic bid and they are a very, very worthy winner,” federation president Michael Fennell said after the 70 nations and territories in attendance voted 43 to 27 for the city.

The decision came after last year’s Games in New Delhi, supposed to showcase India’s status as an emerging global power, instead descended into a welter of embarrassing scandals.

Coastal Hambantota was badly affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and had brought in cricket legend Muttiah Muralitharan to boost its campaign message that hosting the Games would have helped regenerate Sri Lanka.

“Hambantota was also a very strong bid, and we have a duty to take the Games to new places, but the bid needs to be the right thing for the Commonwealth Games movement at the right time,” Fennell said.

Gold Coast, a sub-tropical tourist hotspot that is home to more than 500,000 people, promised to provide a stark contrast to last year’s host and its “low-risk” message won over delegates.

The 2010 Delhi Games proved troubled, with the sporting headlines overshadowed by venue delays, shoddy construction, corruption allegations and budget overruns that saw the cost of the event triple to US$6 billion.

Australia said hosting the Commonwealth Games for the fifth time, becoming the only nation ever to do so, would allow it to showcase its ability to host major international sporting events and be a shot in the arm for tourism. 

AFP