Canada to give competition to India for 2030 CWG bid

India will have tough competition from at least two countries in its bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030. Canada and Nigeria both registered their interest before the last date to send expression of interest (EOI), which was March 31.

The host nation’s name will be announced in November after a vote during the Commonwealth Sport General Assembly. All interested countries are expected to formally submit the proposal by August 31.

As per GamesBids.com, Canada’s EOI has the backing of the federal government besides four provincial governments have joined hands and it is expected that the Games would be held across several cities.

What is interesting about Canada’s bid is that if successful, the country will get to host the centenary edition as it was the host of the first ever CWG event in 1930, when it was known as the British Empire Games, held in Hamilton.

The Commonwealth Games have been struggling to survive ever since Victoria, Australia, pulled out due to rising costs. Subsequently, Glasgow stepped in to host next year’s edition, albeit with truncated sports disciplines. Boxing, wrestling, hockey, cricket, badminton and shooting have all been dropped from the programme.

Commonwealth Sport’s president Chris Jenkins had visited India twice in the last two years in order to gauge India’s interest to host the Games. He had hinted he saw India as a major country for the Commonwealth Games at least till 2034.

The sport ministry officials all this while have been quietly confident that India would get to host the Games as there have been no takers to host the games. However, the entries of these countries will make it tricky for India.

Hosting the 2030 edition was seen as a stepping stone as India has also registered an interest in hosting the 2036 Olympic Games.