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Trinidad & Tobago back in the running for 2018 Commonwealth Games |
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 01 December 2009 00:28 |
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November 29 - Trinidad & Tobago seems set to revive its bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games having originally scrapped the idea following the cancellation earlier this year of the inaugural Caribbean Games because of the swine flu crisis.
The country's Prime Minister Patrick Manning made the announcement during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which has been taking place in the capital Port-of-Spain.
The cancellation of the Caribbean Games in June on the advice of the country's Ministry of Health and World Health Organisation had seemingly scuppered their plans and Larry Romany, the President of the Trinidad & Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) claimed afterwards that no-one would trust them to put on the Commonwealth Games.
But the successful hosting of the CHOGM, attended by the Queen and all the leaders from the Commonwealth, including Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has led to an increase in confidence, it seems.
The Games have not been staged in the West Indies since Kingston in Jamaica hosted it in 1966
Trinidad is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just seven mile off the North Eastern coast of Venezuela.
A number of cities have already declared their intentions to bid for the Games.
These include Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, which was defeated by Glasgow for the right to host the 2014 Games.
Others are likely to include Auckland and the Gold Coast while bids could still emerge from Durban in South Africa and Nairobi in Kenya.
The Commonwealth Games Federation are due to choose the host city at its Assembly in St Kitts and Nevis in November 2011. story by Duncan Mackay
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