(ATR) The search for a 2022 Commonwealth Games host isn’t over yet.
Birmingham, England appeared to be the choice since it was the only city to meet the Sept. 30 deadline to apply as the replacement for Durban, South Africa.
But the Commonwealth Games Federation Executive Board, meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka this week, announced on Friday that the period for accepting "fully compliant proposals" had been extended to Nov. 30.
"I must congratulate the Birmingham Bid team for the work that has been undertaken in preparing a comprehensive proposal for 2022," Commonwealth Games Federation President Louise Martin said in a statement.
"We have carefully reviewed the bids and updates received as part of the ongoing 2022 Candidate City Process and have agreed - noting the challenging timescales and no fully compliant bid - that further time should be given to all interested parties to enable the submission of fully compliant proposals."
The Nov. 30 deadline is not set in stone either. The CGF Executive Board agreed that the date would be kept under review as the process moved forward. Previously, the CGF said it wanted to make a final decision before the end of this year. It is unclear if the new deadline will delay that.
The Birmingham bid appeared to take the CGF decision in stride, a spokesperson saying in a statement "We expected a period of discussion and negotiation with the CGF following submission and we await further clarification from the CGF about the next steps."
Birmingham was chosen over Liverpool last month as the candidate city for the United Kingdom. The Liverpool mayor is wondering how the UK government allowed a non-compliant bid from Birmingham to move forward.
"Our bid was compliant, so there are definitely questions to be asked," Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson told the Liverpool Echo.
Requests by Around the Rings to the CGFto explain the specific problems with the Birmingham bid have so far not been answered.
The CGF was forced to create a fast-track process for the 2022 event after it revoked the original hosting rights of Durban in March due to a lack of organization and financial commitments. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, host of the 1998 Commonwealth Games and 1994 hosts Victoria, British Columbia seriously considered joining Birmingham in bidding but ultimately did not.
Australia had also admitted interest to a bid in April, according to the CGF. But Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive Craig Phillips has been on record since March saying an Australian bid would be made only as a last resort.
Australia’s Gold Coast is hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games in April.
Written by Gerard Farek
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