Queen saves the Games

Sanjay Suri
India Abroad correspondent in London

The Queen has come to the rescue of the Commonwealth Games to be held in Manchester next year - as she does with so much to do with the Commonwealth.

The government found the extra money needed for the Games after an independent report said that unless an extra $200 million are found immediately, the Games would have to be cancelled.

The pressure to find the money is reported to have come from Buckingham Palace. The Commonwealth Games next year coincide with the golden jubilee celebrations of the anniversary of the coronation of the Queen. The Games have been made the highlight of the celebrations.

The Queen will open and close the Games. “This is the first time that the Queen will have such an extenive involvement with the Commonwealth Games,” the official spokeswoman for the Games in Manchester told rediff.com.

The Commonwealth, a group of 54 nations that were once a part of the British Empire, is especially dear to Queen Elizabeth. Much of the interest the British government shows in the Commonwealth reflects the Queen’s wishes.

Queen Elizabeth II had intervened earlier to restore funding for the Commonwealth Institute in London after the Foreign Office had decided to cancel the funding.

The Queen’s inclinations seem at variance with the popular mood. Few people in Britain care about the Commonwealth, and the threat to the games in Manchester was a result of that indifference.

Manchester City Council which is organising the Games was unable to find enough sponsors to fund the Games. Nor did the government want to step in with any money until the Queen’s golden jubilee celebrations became an issue.

Now the government is paying $40 million dollars, with another $35 million from Sport England, an independent group funded by lottery money to promote sports in England. But even so Manchester city council which has the responsibility to run the Games has been asked to cough up $50 million. The three will pool in for another $40 million contingency fund. That is still about $35 million short of the recommended $200 million.

The Commonwealth Games in July next year follow immediately from the European Games. Much of business money for advertising and sponsorship has gone to the European Games. The Commonwealth Games would find larger viewership but the European Games will be followed by fans with more buying power.

An official at the Commonwealth Games office in Manchester admitted that the schedule of the Games had been altered to give priority to British athletes’ participation in the European Games.