An introduction to the 2022 Commonwealth Games

The 2022 Commonwealth Games, commonly known as Birmingham 2022, is a huge sports event for members of the Commonwealth.

It will be held in Birmingham, England and be the third time England has hosted the Games, after London in 1934 and Manchester in 2002.

A version of the article was originally posted here An introduction to the 2022 Commonwealth Games (europeansupernews.blogspot.com)

The Games will take place between 28 July and 8 August 2022. Birmingham was announced as the host by the Commonwealth Games Federation at a press conference in December 2017.

The venues 

The venues are in Birmingham, Coventry, Royal Leamington Spa, Sandwell and London. The Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr is scheduled to host the ceremonies and athletics and is being renovated. The seating capacity will be increased permanently from 12,700 to 18,000, allowing more than 30,000 to watch the games.

The events

A new edition of the Commonwealth Games Charter comes into effect. In addition to the ten core sports that were part of the schedule in 2018 — athletics, badminton, boxing, hockey, lawn bowls, netball (for women), rugby sevens, squash, swimming and weightlifting — there will be five new sports that are going to integrate into this category. These are road cycling, judo, triathlon, table tennis, and wrestling.

A women's cricket tournament will also be held and be cricket's first inclusion in the Commonwealth Games since a men's tournament was held at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The matches will be played under Twenty20 format and perhaps interestingly, there will only be a women's tournament. The Women's version of The Hundred in 2021 became very popular with fans of the sport so this event could build on that popularity.

Who's involved?

•  Australia
•  Barbados
•  Cameroon
•  Canada
•  Cyprus
•  England (Host)
•  Guernsey
•  India
•  Isle of Man
•  Jersey
•  Kenya
•  Malawi
•  Malaysia
•  New Zealand
•  Nigeria
•  Pakistan
•  Saint Lucia
•  Scotland
•  South Africa
•  Sri Lanka
•  Trinidad and Tobago

Why do England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales compete separately and not as Great Britain in the Commonwealth Games?

This is an interesting question that has been discussed on many occasions. One enthusiast gave this answer on the Quora website?

For the same reason, they send separate teams to the football World Cup. When the Commonwealth Games were founded (similar to, when the FIFA was founded) they started separately.

Since sport competitions were very popular back then, they had competitions between those for ‘countries’. Since the British had enough power in the commonwealth, they were able to continue with that during the international commonwealth games. Since they invented football and established football associations, they had the power to do the same at the FIFA.

Since only nations are allowed to participate in the Olympics, UK can only send one team. Although the IOC definition of a nation allows for many loop wholes, the UK was not granted to send more teams.

Throwback to the Manchester games in 2002

The 2002 Commonwealth Games were a huge success. They were considered a success for the host city. They had provided an event to display how Manchester had changed and evolved. It also formed the catalyst for the widespread regeneration and heavy development of Manchester. It bolstered its reputation as a European and global city internationally. 

The opening and closing ceremonies, the athletic and the rugby sevens events were held at the City of Manchester Stadium. Manchester City moved into the ground around 12 months after the Commonwealth Games.

This event played a part in helping promote the UK as a whole, helping with London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.