CHENNAI: The Commonwealth Games Federation has already written to a number of International Federations (IFs) to ensure they don’t host rejigged World Championships during the 2022 CWG in Birmingham. With the Olympics pushed back to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, a host of IFs — including the World Athletics and the International Swimming Federation (FINA) — are looking at rescheduling the 2021 Worlds to 2022. That, in effect, could force athletes to skip the CWG to concentrate on the Worlds, especially if the dates are clashing.
“We have written formally to the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, World Athletics, FINA and UEFA to ensure we can work with them to avoid their events moving to the Summer of 2022 and clashing with the Commonwealth Games,” a CWG spokesperson told this daily.
With the men’s Euros postponed to 2021, there is a feeling that the women’s Euros, scheduled to be held in 2021, may be moved to 2022. Slated to be held in the UK and around the same time as the CWG, that is potentially bad news for the Birmingham Organising Committee, who would have hoped to have a free calendar for maximum coverage. That is why they have also written to UEFA.
There is also the small matter of the 2021 Commonwealth Youth Games, slated to be held in Trinidad and Tobago next year. “For the Commonwealth Sport Movement, the Olympics could now take place in close proximity to the Trinbago 2021 CYG,” CGF CEO, David Grevemburg, in a statement made available to this daily, said. “For this island state, preparations for the event have already been impacted by the dramatic increase in cases of COVID-19 in the region as well as the instability of the global economy.
“We also remain fully committed to hosting a success CWG in Birmingham. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to work collaboratively with IF partners to ensure the 2022 CWG maintains its position and stature on the global sporting calendar.”