The Jamaican made his point while hosting the sixth CGF Sports Breakfast which saw more than 150 heads of Government, special guests and leading sports figures in attendance, including Sydney 2000 Olympic 400 metres champion Cathy Freeman, former Australian rugby captain John Eales and Peter Snell, the 1960 Olympic 1500m gold medallist. 

"The Sports Breakfast provides an opportunity to highlight to heads of Government the importance of sport and development and the unique role the CGF plays in placing sport at the service of the Commonwealth, particularly through the celebration of the Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth Youth Games," said Fennell.

"It also provides an opportunity to highlight the legacy benefits associated with the hosting of the Games."

With Australia's Gold Coast and Hambantota in Sri Lanka currently bidding for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the CGF Sports Breakfast saw Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in attendance as well as Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa reportedly broke a private agreement with Gillard not to use the meeting to promote Hambantota's bid. 

She made only a brief mention of the Gold Coast as having put in a bid, saying Australia would host an ''outstanding Games''.

But Rajapaksa used his 10-minute speech to make a concerted pitch for votes.

Rajapaksa (pictured) told the audience his nation wanted to mirror Malaysia, which hosted the Games in 1998 and witnessed massive economic expansion in the following years.


Mark Stockwell, the chairman of Gold Coast's bid, praised Gillard's speech.

"The Prime Minister spoke of the importance of the Commonwealth Games and sport," he said.

"The message was, 'We're locked in for a fair dinkum fight'.

The decision on where the 2018 competition is staged will be made on November 11 at the CGF General Assembly in St Kitts and Nevis but Hambantota's bid has come under fire at the CHOGM, which is being attended by the Queen, due to concern over Sri Lanka's human rights record.

Sri Lankan Government forces are accused of committing atrocities against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) following their final push that defeated the separatists in 2009 following the 26-year-long civil war in the country.

The accusations say that the military killed tens of thousands of civilians leading to calls that Rajapaksa should be put on trial for war crimes and that Sri Lanka to be expelled from the Commonwealth.

The Sri Lankan President has hit back at claims in Perth, telling the Commonwealth leaders "not to listen to the propagandists" following criticism from high-ranking figures including Gillard and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who said he would boycott the next CHOGM in 2013 in Sri Lanka and oppose Hambantota's 2018 bid unless there are major reforms in the country.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has become the latest senior figure to address the issue at the Commonwealth Summit saying that there had to be a "proper, independent exercise to look into the whole issue of what happened, and whether there were war crimes, and who is responsible".

Rajapaksa will hope to defuse the issue before the vote for the 2018 Commonwealth Games next month with the 71 Commonwealth nations and territories set to cast one vote each to decide on where the competition will be staged.

Fennell will make the announcement of the host city at the St Kitts Marriott Resort at 6pm local time in what will be his last official act as CGF President.

He will then step down after 17 years in the role and handover to Prince Tunku Imran of Malaysia.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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