Liverpool ready to step in as Commonwealth Games 2022 hosts as Durban nears withdrawal over financial worries

Durban was awarded the event in September 2015, having been the sole bidder following the withdrawal of Edmonton, Canada.
But South Africa’s sports minister announced on Tuesday it could not afford to put on an event it had declared itself “fully committed” to hosting barely two months earlier.
Fikile Mbalula said: “We gave it our best shot but we can’t go beyond. If the country says we don’t have this money, we can’t.” Mbalula added that the Durban’s fate rested with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which was due to make a decision imminently on whether to strip it of the event.
It would do so in the knowledge that Liverpool, which had been plotting a bid for the 2026 Games, was ready to come to the rescue.