The 2014 Commonwealth Games (officially the 20th edition) will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from July 23 to August 3.
It will be the largest multi-sport event ever held in Scotland, although the country previously hosted the 1970 and 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
Africa’s fastest woman, Blessing Okagbare is expected to lead Team Nigeria to Glasgow 2014
The final decision on the host city of the 2014 Commonwealth Games was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on November 9, 2007 at the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly, attended by all 71 member associations.
Each bid city made a presentation to the General Assembly, the order of which was determined by drawing lots.
Glasgow’s delegation was led by Louise Martin, chairman of the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland; First Minister, Alex Salmond; athlete, Jamie Quarry; and Leader of Glasgow City Council, Steven Purcell.
The presentation also included a promotional film narrated by Sean Connery.
Abuja’s delegation was led by General Yakubu Gowon, head of the Abuja 2014 Commonwealth Games bid team.
The CGF members subsequently voted for their preferred candidate in a secret ballot. As there were only two bids, the winner was announced Fennell, after the first round of voting, with the winner only requiring a simple majority. The results of the bidding process saw Glasgow, Scotland with 47 votes while Abuja, Nigeria got 24.
There will be 71 participating nations at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
There are a total of 17 sports and 261 medal events that will be contested for at the Games.
Meanwhile, Director General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Gbenga Elegbeleye, has charged Team Nigeria athletes not to disappoint the country and shun drugs use.
He expressed optimism that Team Nigeria could surpass its record at the 2010 edition of the Games held in New Delhi, India.
“They must not disappoint us and stay away from banned substances that could jeopardise the chances of the country winning good medals.
“We won 11 gold medals at the last edition; but now, we should be able to win at least 15 gold medals,” he said.
Secretary General of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Tunde Popoola, confirmed that Team Nigeria would feature in seven sports namely athletics, table tennis, wrestling, boxing, weightlifting, shooting and all the sports for the physically-challenged (para-sports).
“We are participating only in sports that we believe we have medal-winning prospects. We are going with the precise number of athletes that would be competing in the games. No room for jamboree, but to win medals.
“The NSC and NOC are in a synergy to ensure that both parties achieve a common goal. There is maximum cooperation between the two bodies, finance is better managed and channelled to the right places,” he said.
Team Nigeria placed ninth at the last Games in New Delhi, India in 2010 with 11 gold, eight silver and 14 bronze medals.
Since appearing for the first time in 1950, Nigeria has never missed out of the Commonwealth Games.
Nigeria’s best outing in the Commonwealth Games was back in 1994 when the City of Victoria in Canada hosted.
