The Abuja bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was an unsuccessful bid to host the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

by the city of

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

, Nigeria. The bidding race was won by the Glasgow 2014 bid after a 47–24 vote by the

Commonwealth Games Federation The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), currently known as Commonwealth Sport, is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is the governing body ...

(CGF) General Assembly on 9 November 2007 in

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Background

The former Nigerian leader General

Yakubu Gowon Yakubu Dan-Yumma "Jack" Gowon (born 19 October 1934) is a Nigerian former military officer and statesman who served as the head of state of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975. Gowon was Nigeria's leader during the Nigerian Civil War where he delivered ...

was the head of the Abuja 2014 Commonwealth Games bid team, he called for all Nigerians to support the games for the "glory of Nigeria". He suggested that Nigeria would be a prime location for the games because of its unity, serenity,

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

and availability of standard sporting facilities.

had recently hosted the

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

, The African regional version of the olympics, for which it constructed a world-class olympic stadium and games village. It was a hugely successful tournament with more than 7,000 athletes (and larger in size than any Commonwealth Games ever held). The 2014 Commonwealth Games would also be an integral part of national celebration plans for Nigeria's centenary. The

bid received strong support from African Commonwealth members (which make up the bulk of the Commonwealth) as well as Australia, in what would be the largest multi-sport event to be held thus far on the continent. Despite its number of members, no African country has ever hosted the games and is that last major continent, excluding South America never to have acted as host. The website, www.abuja2014.org simple said "...completing the Commonwealth Games Circle" An article from Jonathan Clayton of

the Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

said: Abuja airport would be modernised to cater for the sheer capacity of the influx due to the games. This would further boost their bid to host the games. A state of the art

light rail transit Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

system was included in the bid documents. The

Federal Capital Territory A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...

(FCT) administration announced that it had awarded a $841m contract for the construction of the system, which would be completed by 2012.

Sports

The Abuja 2014 Bid Committee issued a list of 17 sports that they planned to host: * Aquatics (Swimming and

Diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

) * Athletics * Badminton * Basketball *

Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

* Cycling (Road, Mountain and Track) * Gymnastics (

Artistic Art is a diverse range of culture, cultural activity centered around works of art, ''works'' utilizing Creativity, creative or imagination, imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an express ...

and

Rhythmic Rhythmic may refer to: * Related to rhythm * Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format * Rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor ...

) *

Field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

* Judo *

Bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

Rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

Shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

Squash Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...

* Table Tennis *

Weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

The Abuja 2014 Commonwealth Games Bid, led by General Yakubu Gowon, submitted the Abuja 2014 Candidature File (Bid Book) on Wednesday, 9 May 2007 to the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Michael Fennel, at a ceremony in London where Glasgow also submitted its Candidature File. Members of the Commonwealth Games Federation Executive Board and representatives of the Scotland and Nigeria Communities were also present at the ceremony.

Evaluation process

The Evaluation Commission visited Abuja between 4 and 7 June 2007. The conclusions of the CGF Evaluation Commission were that "The Abuja Bid Committee submitted a Candidate City File which has the substantial and broad backing of the Nigerian Government. The Evaluation Commission submitted a number of issues to be clarified by Abuja and while most of these matters were addressed, a number of matters remain of concern and these are noted in the body of the report...and any decision to award the games to Abuja should be conditional on these matters being addressed" General Yakubu Gowon, said that his country was also "confident", despite the adverse evaluation of its bid by a four-member team in September. The group's report found fault with the city's plans for budgeting, transport, legacy, marketing and venues. "As far as we are concerned our bid is not only an Abuja bid but an African bid," said General Gowon. "We are going there for a good, good fight, remember I am a general."

Final selection process

"A vote for Abuja means a vote for whole of Africa," appealed

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

winner Bishop

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

to delegates during the final video presentation to delegates before voting began.

Reaction

General Gowon accepted that the Games had been won by "a better presentation" but "The size of the vote for Glasgow was a surprise. We thought we had a very strong case for bringing the Games to Africa for the first time", he went on "It was a friendly battle and we hope we will win next time." Michael Fennell the CGF President, said: The website simple said "We appreciate, all your efforts, contributions and for believing in us. Abuja2014 Bid Committee"

Notes

External links

Official Abuja Bid websiteAbuja Candidate City Filefct.gov.ng Abuja (Bid Announcement)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abuja 2014 Commonwealth Games Bid 2014 Commonwealth Games

Comm The command in the Unix family of computer operating systems is a utility that is used to compare two files for common and distinct lines. is specified in the POSIX standard. It has been widely available on Unix-like operating systems since ...

Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Nigerian sport