The group included Malaysia's Prince Tunku Imran (pictured), who is set to replace Mike Fennell as President of the CGF next month when the Jamaican steps down.

 The CGF Executive Board spent three days in Australia experiencing the Regional Inbound Visit Programme and looking at potential Games Family hotel options should the bid be successful.

"We enjoyed very good feedback during this visit  and believe we are in a very positive position, however, we appreciate the advice given by the Board to stay focussed and committed right until the end," said Mark Stockwell, the chairman of Gold Coast 2018.

"The support of the athletes, volunteers and the Australian community together with the excellent Gold Coast City infrastructure continues to reinforce the Evaluation Commissions low risk status for a 2018 Games in Gold Coast City."

The feeback from the visiting officials appeared to be overwhelmingly positive.

"It is obvious there is lots of experience in the city which will be an asset with Games planning," said England's Ian Emmerson. 


CGF Honorary Legal Advisor, Sharad Rao said he had fond memories of his last visit to Queensland during the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games where the official role of Legal Advisor was introduced.

The Kenyan claimed he was surprised by the amount of infrastructure in place and how beautiful Gold Coast City is.

"You have such excellent facilities and so new," he said.

The visit coincided with the Gold Coast hosting the Australian University Game (AUG), which was staged over five days and saw 6,700 competitors competing across 29 sports.

"We welcomed thousands of athletes to the Gold Coast here to take advantage of our quality sporting infrastructure, ideal competition conditions, accommodation options and of course a great fun and friendly environment," said Stockwell.

"The AUG utilised the coast's existing multi-sport facilities and experienced volunteer base, which demonstrates that we are a Games-ready city.

Stockwell claimed the Gold Coast has a long history of experience when it comes to hosting large world-class sporting events.

"Our Gold Coast Marathon attracted almost 25,000 competitors this year, the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships saw 8,000 competitors take to the sand and fans from around the world were attracted to Gold Coast beaches for this year's Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Surfing contests," he said.

The final delegation to inspect the bid will include representatives from the Asia region and arrive in Gold Coast City on on October 20, their last chance to impress before the CGF General Assembly votes on November 11 in St Kitts and Nevis, where they will face Hambantota.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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