Birmingham will host the 2022 Commonwealth Games – the most expensive sports event to be staged in Britain since the London 2012 Olympics.
The city’s was the only bid submitted to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) by the deadline of 30 September, after it was chosen ahead of Liverpool as Britain’s candidate.
The CGF initially deemed the city’s bid was “not fully compliant”.
However, it has now been confirmed as the host of the £750m event.
Birmingham mayor Andy Street described the announcement as a “fantastic Christmas present for our region”.
The bidding process has been beset with problems, with the South African city of Durban awarded the Games in 2015 before being stripped of the event because it did not meet the CGF criteria.
After Birmingham’s bid was initially deemed to not meet the necessary criteria, previously interested cities such as Victoria in Canada and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia were given another two months to apply, but no bids materialised.
Birmingham’s organisers will now move forward with plans to build the UK’s largest permanent athletics stadium, supplemented by four indoor arenas.
The decision will also enable the council to pursue the purchase of land for the athletes’ village in Perry Barr, one of the city’s northern suburbs.
Prime Minister Theresa May reacts to the announcement on her Twitter account. She tweeted, “Congratulations to Birmingham, hosts of the common wealth games in 2022. Well done Karen Bradley and Andy Street, who worked so hard to make it happen. A great city for what I’m sure will be an excellent tournament.”
The Mayor of Birmingham also reacted to the news
‘An extraordinary opportunity’
Head of Commonwealth Games England Ian Metcalfe told BBC Sport the Games will be funded by private backers as well as local and national public funds.
He said: “It’s an extraordinary opportunity for the city and region to showcase itself to the world at a time when we will be leaving Europe and the relationship with our Commonwealth neighbours will be even more important.”