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Glasgow showed off its technical superiority in a presentation narrated by Sean Connery and was backed by the presence of Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, to land the 2014 Commonwealth Games on Friday.
Scotland's largest city received 47 votes against 24 for its lone rival, Abuja, Nigeria, at the Commonwealth Games Federation meetings in Sri Lanka. The Nigerian bid offered the strong emotional appeal of bringing the first major international Games to the African continent, but in the end, delegates feared Abuja wouldn't be prepared in seven years to hold an event for 17 sports and more than 6,000 athletes.
The Abuja bid was outvoted by a margin of almost 2-to-1, but the Third World support behind the Nigerians gave pause to Canadian officials who will think twice before mounting a bid for 2018.
A well-prepared technical African bid could be a prohibitive favourite, said Thomas Jones, chief executive officer of Commonwealth Games Canada in an interview.
People of Glasgow react to the announcement that their city will be the venue for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, at the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow on Friday. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
"Hosting remains a big part of our vision as a franchise builder for the Commonwealth Games, and one day, we absolutely want to be host again," Jones said. "But bidding would involve a number of decisions on the climate internationally: whether it's our time or if an African bid came forward that's technically sound."
Hamilton was beaten by New Delhi for the 2010 Games. Halifax withdrew from the 2014 contest in March when the municipal and Nova Scotia governments flinched at a $1.7-billion price tag, about a $1-billion more than original estimates.
"Time was a large factor in Halifax dropping out. We learned planning the bid has to begin much earlier," Jones said. "Glasgow started getting its strategy together in 2003. It takes time to work through the naysayers, to get budgets in line, to make sure the domestic funding partners are still on side."
