London had been strongly rumoured to be set to launch a bid for the event, using many of the facilities built for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Among those who had urged CGE to launch a campaign was Johnson and former British Sports Minister Hugh Robertson. 

But Paker has admitted they never seriously considered the possibility of a bid from London or Birmingham and Sheffield, two other English cities which had in the past expressed an interest in staging the event. 

"We are not going to be involved in bidding for the 2022 Games, but it would be wonderful to hold the Commonwealths again in England," he told insidethegames in an interview that coincides with the celebrations tomorrow to mark 100 days until the start of Glasgow 2014. 

"We are delighted to see that two very strong bidders in the form of Edmonton and Durban have made known their interest in hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games," he said.

"There has been a question of interest, so it is good to see two very strong, very different kinds of potential bids for those Games.

"Canada has hosted the Games before, and is a known quantity.

"South Africa has never held a Commonwealth Games - in fact Africa hasn't.

"So the prospect of the Games going there following the [FIFA] World Cup finals in 2010 is an exciting one."

The Opening Ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester , the last occasion the event was staged in England ©Getty Images

Paker has claimed that although England "would love at some stage to throw our hat into the ring to host another Games" it is not near the top of their list of priorities.

"I think there are other more important issues concerned in England getting to host another Games," he said.

"The two key ones are to have a suitable city which is really up for hosting the event, and to be assured of Government support for the project.

"Those are the fundamental issues.

"At the moment I can't tell you when that will be - we will need to hold consultations with particular interested cities."

Read the full exclusive interview with Paker here.
 
Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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