The Commonwealth Games Federation is working with World Athletics and Uefa to ensure the Birmingham Commonwealth Games don’t overlap with a rescheduled World Athletics Championships or the Women’s European Championships in 2022.
The postponements of this year’s Olympics and Euro 2020 until next summer have forced the governing body for athletics to move the World Athletics Championships, originally scheduled for next summer in Eugene, Oregon, to 2022. Uefa has had to move its women’s tournament, originally scheduled for summer 2021 in England, to the summer of 2022 for similar reasons.
If the two organisations move their events forward by exactly a year, they are likely to clash with the Commonwealth Games which is scheduled to take place in Birmingham from July 27 to August 7. A one-year delay would see the Women’s Euros take place on July 7 to August 1, while the World Championships would be scheduled for August 6 to 15.
CGF chief executive David Grevemberg confirmed to The Telegraph that the scheduling discussions had taken place.
“We are working collaboratively with our international federation partners, including World Athletics and Uefa, to ensure the XXII Commonwealth Games maintains its position and stature on the global sporting calendar,” he said.
There is some speculation that event congestion could lead to the cancellation of the multi-sport European Championships. But World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has expressed his hope that the event could form part of an athletics ‘treble’ across June, July and August in 2022.
“I do want the treble to be on. The treble at any time of the year is a challenging one. Discussions are ongoing,” he told the publication. “I really do want to try and make this work, but there will inevitably be some compromises along the way.”
