SYDNEY (Reuters) – Queensland’s state government will contribute A$11 million ($10.08 million) to the bid to bring the 2018 Commonwealth Games to the Gold Coast, local media reported on Monday. The Gold Coast, about 75 kilometres south of Brisbane, was nominated as the region to bid for the Games in 2008.

“The Games bid is formally made by the Australian Commonwealth Games Association and we will be working in partnership with the Association to launch that bid now into the international arena,” Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told the ABC.

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SEOUL (Reuters) – Pyeongchang has submitted its 2018 application file to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with South Korea still basking in glory from the Vancouver Games.

Bid leaders outlined the winter resort’s easy accessibility and overwhelming public support for the bid, the Korea Times reported.

South Korea is still buzzing after the country’s athletes finished a best-ever fifth in last month’s Vancouver medals table with six gold, six silver and two bronze.

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today elected Nanjing, People’s Republic of China, as the host city of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2014 during the 122nd IOC Session in Vancouver, Canada. Nanjing received 47 votes to edge out runner-up Poznan, Poland, which received 42 votes.

“We had two outstanding candidatures from two fantastic cities. Both expressed the spirit of the Youth Olympic Games and both were capable of staging the event,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge. “We are looking forward to working with Nanjing, and are confident the Youth Olympic Games in 2014 will be a success.”

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan has 13 prospective venues should the country win the right to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups, the country’s bid leaders said on Thursday.

Japan has bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups despite initially saying it would only do so if Tokyo won the vote to stage the 2016 Olympics. Rio de Janeiro was picked to host those Games.

The Japan Football Association (JFA) plans to use nine of the 10 venues from the 2002 World Cup which the country co-hosted with South Korea.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Nagasaki has abandoned its ambitions to host the 2020 Olympics after the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) rejected a joint bid with Hiroshima.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue informed the city’s local assembly of the decision on Friday but offered full cooperation to Hiroshima should the city table a solo bid.

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MADRID (Reuters) – Barcelona will bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in the Pyrenees, the Spanish city’s mayor Jordi Hereu said on Wednesday.

“Barcelona has a good chance and wants to relive the Olympic dream. The city is ready and already has the experience (having hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics),” Hereu told reporters.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Eighteen cities were named as part of a United States bid for the 2018 or 2022 soccer World Cup on Tuesday, but Chicago was notably absent from the list.

The 18 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas and Boston, have stadiums with average seating capacities of 78,000 for a World Cup.

Other cities named in the bid that will be presented to FIFA on May 14 were Atlanta, Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Nashville, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa and Washington D.C.

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JAKARTA (Reuters) – The Indonesian Soccer Federation is confident that the country’s government will provide the necessary funding to support their ambitious bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

“We’re waiting for the government to make their decision whether they will back the bid,” Indonesian soccer federation secretary-general Nugraha Besoes told Reuters by telephone on Monday.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – A proposal by Hiroshima and Nagasaki to table a joint bid for the 2020 Olympics has been rejected by the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC).

The mayors of both cities were informed of the decision by Japanese Olympic boss Tsunekazu Takeda and advised to consider individual bids.

“JOC president Takeda conveyed to them we must uphold the Olympic charter so co-hosting is not possible,” the JOC’s Olympic cooperation director Yasuhiro Nakamori told Reuters on Friday.

“It’s possible Hiroshima could make a solo bid. The city staged the 1994 Asian Games. But it would be a bit difficult for Nagasaki to stage such a big international event.”

Takeda held talks with the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — the only cities to have suffered a nuclear attack — in Tokyo earlier on Friday and refused to rule either venue out.

“Hiroshima and Nagasaki both have a very good chance of staging an Olympics on their own,” Takeda told reporters.

Tokyo, which lost out to Rio de Janeiro in October’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote for the 2016 Games, is also in contention to become Japan’s 2020 bid city.

The identity of Japan’s bid city for the 2020 Summer Games could remain a mystery until 2011, Nakamori said.

The International Rugby Board has confirmed that the four Unions who entered the race to host Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014 last month have progressed to the next stage of the tender process.

Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Samoa and USA have expressed their formal intention to tender to host the premier 15-a-side tournament for women.
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