The British government voted a budget of £778 million ($990 million) for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Tuesday, double the amount contributed when the event was held in Glasgow five years ago. The Games, in which 5,000 athletes from 71 nations compete in 19 sports between July 27 and August 7, will be the biggest sporting and cultural event staged in the West Midlands. Birmingham beat Liverpool in a truncated all-English race to host the event in December 2017 after original host Durban was stripped of the Games after running into financial problems.
Central government will provide three quarters of the funding (£594 million) with a further £184 million to be raised by Birmingham City Council.
The pot of public money will underwrite the city's preparations for the 11 days of sport and provide key funding for the Games' two main building projects: the redevelopment of Alexander Stadium and the construction of an aquatics centre.