The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will start 24 hours later than the original scheduled time because of the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the sporting calendar.
The move will allow all the athletes who are competing at the World Athletics Championships in Portland, Oregon, in the United States – which finishes on July 24 – an extra day of recovery.
It will also avoid a clash the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Football Championships which is due to take place in England from July 6 to 31.
Both Championships were originally scheduled to be held in 2021 but had to be postponed to 2022 after the rescheduling of the Tokyo Olympics following the global outbreak of coronavirus.
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Executive Board has approved the change for the Games and it will now run from July 28 to August 8.
A joint announcement from the CGF said: “It ensures that Birmingham 2022 will now boast two full weekends of Commonwealth Sport whilst extending the rest and recovery period for those athletes competing in the World Athletics Championships.
“The alternative to the opening ceremony date also avoids a potential clash with the semi-finals of the recently rescheduled UEFA Women’s Football Championships, helping to protect and promote the profile of women’s sport”.
John Crabtree, Chair of Birmingham 2022 said: “As well as this slight change to our dates we are working on a detailed competition schedule for our 19 sports, looking at how we can maximise the recovery time for those athletes who will be looking to participate in more than one major event in two years time”.
