But it does criticise the manner in which the unsuccessful bidders were given the news.

A huge row erupted in December after Gold Coast 2018 chose American company Jack Morton Worldwide (JMW) to organise the Ceremonies, which are expected to be among the highlights of the Games.

David Atkins, chief executive of Australian-based David Atkins Enterprises, who lost out to JMW for the tender, complained about the role of former JMW employees employees Mik Auckland and Celia Smith in the process. 

Auckland, who had been appointed Gold Coast 2018 Ceremonies manager having worked as head of Ceremonies delivery at Glasgow 2014, was employed JMW for nine years and his partner Celia was with them up until 2014.

The couple then went on to form their own company called Red Thread Solutions.

Their involvement in the process forced Gold Coast 2018 to deny any accusations of a conflict of interest after it was revealed the couple offered technical advice to the Bid Evaulation Committee.

An independent probity report in January found there was no conflict of interest, despite the involvement of Auckland Smith. 

A follow-up report by the Queensland Audit Office has now revealed that a review ‘‘did not identify any evidence that the tender process had not been properly conducted", reported The Courier Mail.

It did, however, identify improvements that were needed in the communication process.

It said the unsuccessful bidders should have been notified as part of a formal de-brief process, but instead were informed by email before the Christmas break.

Newly-appointed Gold Coast 2018 chairman Peter Beattie told The Courier Mail ‘‘it has cleared the process and that paves the way to get on with the job’’.

The full report is expected to be published on Monday (July 4).