The battle to host the 2018 Games has now dramatically stepped up with just over a month to go until the 71 Commonwealth nations and territories decide on who will host the event at the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly on November 11 in St Kitts and Nevis.

Oceania holds 13 of the 71 votes with reports suggesting that they would vote in a block for the Gold Coast but following a their recent visit to Sri Lanka to inspect the Hambantota 2018 bid, Oceania delegates revealed that this is not the case.

"Coming here has changed what we know about Sri Lanka and what we hear about Sri Lanka," said senior Samoa delegate Niko Palamo.

"A lot of the developing countries have already hosted the Games three or four times so hosting the Games to them is just another event.

"But it's like Sri Lanka is representing the other 60 developing countries who haven't hosted the Games so far."

Cook Islands delegate Rosie Blake said: "I'm sure that by the time your sports complex is finished, it will be a showcase for the world.

"So I hope they [the Commonwealth countries] get behind Sri Lanka and give their support because I think you have a lot to offer."

But perhaps the most telling comment came from Papua New Guinea representative Graham Osborne who said: "I think you will end up getting a few more votes than you think you might get."

Although Oceania is still likely to back the Gold Coast, it now appears that the Australian city can only count 100 per cent on one of the 13 Oceania delegates to vote for them in St Kitts and Nevis in the form of Australian Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA) President Sam Coffa.

Hambantota are aiming to become the tenth country to host the Commonwealth Games with Australia aiming to stage the event for a fifth time.

In their 144-page report on the two bidding cities, the CGF Evaluation Commission described Hambantota 2018 as one of "the most compact Commonwealth Games concept designs ever developed."


The bid concept sees all but three of the competition venues in a single cluster, with the Athletes' Village and the majority of training venues onsite, meaning that the majority of athletes will travel no more than 1 kilometre from the Village to their respective competition or training venue.

In 2018, the cluster will also be just 13 kilometres from the new Hambantota International Airport, which is currently under construction.

Hambantota has already received visits from Caribbean, African and European delegations, while Asia has just concluded the final delegates visit to the coastal city.

The support of the African delegation will be crucial for the two cities as they carry 19 of the votes.

They are followed by the Caribbean who have 15 votes and Oceania with 13 votes.

Europe is next with 10 votes, while Asia has eight votes and the Americas six votes.

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