The Queensland city secured the right to stage the Commonwealth Games when they defeated sole rival Hambantota, Sri Lanka, by 43 votes to 27 at the CGF General Assembly in St Kitts and Nevis.

Since the victory, there have been many changes in personnel, including the high profile move, ordered by the new Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and Commonwealth Games Minister Jann Stucke, that saw former chairman Mark Stockwell replaced by Brisbane businessman Nigel Chamier.

Chamier will provide an overview on the Gold Coast 2018 preparations to the CGF delegation which will consist of President Prince Tunku Imran and chief executive Mike Hooper.

The three day visit will take place in the Gold Coast next week from June 12 until 14 and Hooper says it will provide a good chance for the CGF to meet with the new leadership.

"This is a scheduled visit to the Gold Coast which we delayed very slightly while the Organising Committee Board was finalised," Hooper told insidethegames.

"But now that the Board has been officially named, it is a good time for us to meet.

"Obviously there will be an update on how preparations are going but this is more about us meeting in person with the new members of the Organising Committee that we don't know from the bid phase and also with the new Government.


"It is also about looking at how we can help them in terms of staging the event and what expertise we can provide because this is new to them and we want to help them in whatever way we can.

"It will largely be about establishing a road map with them going forward and discussing plans about getting a CGF Coordination Commission in place as well as the timelines that we want to set out together.

"The CGF President and I will also sit in on the Gold Coast 2018 Board meeting, which will be their first official meeting since the Board was formed last month."

Hooper has already had the chance to have a brief update on Gold Coast 2018 preparations after meeting with some of the key members of the Organising Committee, including chief executive Mark Peters, at the SportAccord Convention in Québec City last month.

"Our key priority at SportAccord was the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games preparations because they are at a very advanced stage but it provided us with a great opportunity to speak with some of the Gold Coast team who were out in Québec City.

"We are very pleased with what we have heard so far and we are looking forward to working with the Gold Coast in this evolutionary process towards staging the 2018 Commonwealth Games."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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