As a nation, Scotland loves its sport. We have taken part in every Commonwealth Games since its inception as the British Empire Games in 1930. Our sportsmen and women have won scores of medals and contributed to many of the finest moments.
So the opportunity to host the Commonwealth Games is an honour and a privilege. Of course, the staging of such a world class sporting occasion takes a great deal of preparation and planning. But Scotland has a wealth of experience hosting events and the time was right to put itself forward once again.
There have been some major milestones before Glasgow – as Scotland’s representative – won the right to stage the Games. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games. Its vision is to promote a world-class Commonwealth Games and also encourage and develop sport and physical recreation across the Commonwealth.
This vision, which encompasses the values of humanity, equality and destiny, is shared in Scotland. To ensure Glasgow’s bid met the proper qualifications, it required support from a number of key backers. In February 2004, the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland, now Commonwealth Games Scotland, invited Scottish cities to consider making a bid.
Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, had already hosted the Games in 1970 and again in 1986 but there was a widely held view that it was now the turn of Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city and its commercial and cultural heartland. Seven months later Glasgow was selected as the preferred city from Scotland.
In November 2004 a Bid Assessment Group was set up to look at the long-term benefits of hosting the Games in Scotland. The Group received the results of a three-month study by PMP Consultants. They concluded there were “substantial merits” and that Glasgow would be able to stage a high quality Games, using several existing sporting arenas and the building of a new games village and some new facilities. This would allow the Games to keep a strong control on the costs.
The report also highlighted Glasgow’s exemplary record in hosting major events – including the UEFA Champions League Final at Hampden Park in 2002.
This was all highly encouraging. In August 2005, Scotland’s formal announcement came when the then First Minister Jack McConnell made the announcement from Hampden Park, one of the proposed venues. He said: “Taking the bold step to bring one of the largest events in the world to Scotland shows the scale of our ambition as a nation and the confidence we have in our biggest city.”
After a successful campaign which galvanised Scotland, Glasgow was awarded the Commonwealth Games for 2014, to follow on from Delhi in 2010, at a meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation in Sri Lanka in November 2007.
Since then work has been going on in Scotland – and especially Glasgow – to build the Games infrastructure and to put in place a board of directors and an executive team who are now the Organising Committee. The committee has the task of creating a world-class Games worthy of Glasgow, and Scotland. A lot of work is now being done in setting down the planning and the policies for the next phases of the development.