The bold promise was made by Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the co-chairman of Hambantota 2018 and the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

"We are making 2016 a byword for ourHambantota 2018 bid," he said.

"Our commitment to all CGAs (Commonwealth Games Associations) is that all of the venues and the entire infrastructure for the Games will be completed by December 2016.

"This means that we can use 2017 for all the test events throughout the venues, including the Games Village."

Cabraal's pledge is clearly designed to try to allay fears that if the the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) choose Hambantota, ahead of only rivals Gold Coast, they face the propsect of similar problems that overshadowed the build-up to last year's event in New Delhi when building delays meant that organisers had to work beyond the Opening Ceremony to ensure everything was ready and there were several difficulties because the venues and facilities had not been tested properly.

Hambantota last week hosted two matches in the cricket World Cup, including Sri Lanka's opening match against Canada, which was a 35,000 sell-out in the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, built from scratch in just 11 months.


Sri Lankan officials have now promised to create a compact "Sports City" that will be developed alongside existing major instrastructure developments, including the new sea port and second international airport, which are already under construction, and a high-capacity public transport system and new road network. 

It is proposed that Sports City will feature all of the outdoor and indoor venues needed to host the Commonwealth Games. and that Sri Lanka will consult international federations and CGAs to ensure that is up to international standard.

It is planed that it will be built alongisde a sports Business Enterprise Park and two universities, an IT Park, the Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship, an international trade for tourism and state-of-the-art media centre.

The promise to construct everything so far ahead of the Games has the backing of the Sri Lankan Government, who are convinced that it will be a vote winner when the CGF meets at its annual meeting in St Kitts and Nevis on November 11 to choose the host city.

"Sports City will be instrumental for Hambantota in winning the bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018," said Mahindananda·Aluthgamage, Sri Lanka's Sports Minister and the co-chairman of Hambantota 2018.

"All the athletes participating in the Games will find it tailor-made to suit their specific sporting requirements.

"They will relish the opportunity to compete in venues full to capacity with spectators, with a great atmosphere and in facilities that exceed their expectations and enable them to strive for personal best performances and medals."

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