Friday 6 October 2017 14:25, UK
Birmingham must wait to see if they will host the 2022 Commonwealth Games after their bid was declared to be not "fully compliant" and the bidding process reopened.
Birmingham's £750m pitch was the only one to be submitted to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) by the September 30 deadline, after expected bids from Adelaide, Kuala Lumpur and Victoria in Canada failed to materialise.
Durban in South Africa initially won the right to host the Games but was stripped of the honour due to financial problems.
But having reviewed Birmingham's bid at a meeting in Sri Lanka, the CGF's executive board has decided to give rival bids until November 30 to come forward, although they have not announced why it was deemed unsatisfactory.
In a statement, CGF president Louise Martin said: "I must congratulate the Birmingham bid team for the work that has been undertaken in preparing a comprehensive proposal for 2022.
"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."
The UK government had announced Birmingham as its approved bidder ahead of Manchester and the Treasury agreed to underwrite 75 per cent of the event's costs, with Birmingham City Council providing the rest.
Despite the apparent setback, Birmingham 2022 seem relatively unfazed.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the bid said: "Birmingham worked closely with the (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) to present a compelling and low-risk bid for the city to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
"This was delivered within a very tight, but pre-agreed time frame because of the proximity of the 2022 Games and this was communicated to all interested parties.
"We expected a period of discussion and negotiation with the CGF following submission and we await further clarification from the CGF about the next steps."
The CGE's chief executive Paul Blanchard also seemed relaxed about the situation.
"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," he said.
