The deadline for bids to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games has been extended after Birmingham’s application was judged to be “not fully compliant”.
Birmingham was the only bidder before the original 30 September deadline.
Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Victoria in Canada and a potential Australian entry had been thought to be possible bidders but none came forward.
Now Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Louise Martin has announced a new deadline of 30 November.
Martin congratulated Birmingham on a “comprehensive” application, but said more time should be given to assess proposals.
“We have carefully reviewed the bids and updates received as part of the ongoing 2022 candidate city process and have agreed – noting the challenging timescales and no fully compliant bid – that further time should be given to all interested parties to enable the submission of fully compliant proposals,” she said.
Birmingham beat Liverpool in September to be Britain’s candidate city.
Commonwealth Games England chief executive Paul Blanchard said he remained confident the West Midlands city has the ability to host the event.
“It was a huge effort to put such a comprehensive bid together in such a short timescale,” he said.
“We’ve always said that even though Birmingham was the only city to submit a bid there would still be a few hurdles to clear before a decision was made on formally awarding the Games.”
The cost of staging the event is expected to be at least £750m, which would be the most expensive sports event in Britain since the London 2012 Olympics.
Durban originally won the bidding process in 2015, but the South African city was was stripped of the event in March because it did not meet the criteria set by the CGF.
