GOLD FOR GLASGOW

by RAY FLMEING
THE Commonwealth Games do not attract the same degree of interest as the Olympics (how many of us knew before yesterday that Glasgow was in competition with Nigeria to stage the 2014 event?) but these Games are one of the most attractive and friendly of all international athletics meetings and it is extremely good news that Glasgow got yesterday's vote by a 47-24 majority. The timing is excellent with an increasingly confident Scottish government in a position to make a huge success of the event and pick up further political kudos in the process. As for the London Olympics great emphasis has been placed on the “legacy” of the games, especially for Glasgow's east end. Edinburgh and Manchester have successfully staged the Commonwealth games in the recent past so Glasgow was building on a good track record. Abuja, Nigeria's capital city, could not compete with the range of resources already in place in Glasgow. A heavy responsibility rests on South Africa's shoulders to make a success of the soccer World Cup in 2010 and establish Africa as a viable competitor for other sporting events. With the London Olympics in 2012 and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014 there will be an added incentive for England to get the soccer World Cup in 2018 for which a bid has already been made. It would complete an impressive hat-trick of major sporting events.