Commonwealth Games boss calls for more gov't involvement in sports

Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) President, Chris Jenkins, says there is a need to raise sports awareness within governments to enhance the development of sports.

Jenkins said that as a federation, they will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Governments meeting in two weeks to highlight the importance of the games to the political leaders.

“We need to raise the profile of sports within the government agenda, it is key to education and health, when we go to the meeting that is one of the things we will be talking about,” said Jenkins.

He made the remarks on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Sport Africa and Europe Regional Forum at the Pride Inn Paradise beach resort in Mombasa on Tuesday. 

Jenkins further said that as the largest manifestation of the Commonwealth, there is a need for collaboration between the federations and political leaders to enhance the development of sports.

The CGF President also reiterated that it is his ‘burning passion’ to ensure Africa hosts the Commonwealth Games shortly.

“Yes, Africa is ready to host Commonwealth games, we have those discussions to have the games hosted in the continent whether by two or more countries,” said Jenkins.

He added that his ambition is to have the continent either host the youth or main games at the earliest opportunity possible.

Jenkins also said that to host the main games, time is spent in putting together countries, meeting governments, and getting everyone on board so that when the time comes to put forward the plan, it would be widely accepted that is what Africa wants.

“I do not have a timeline, we are having those discussions at the moment, it is an absolute burning passion of mine to bring the games to Africa,” said Jenkins.

During the conference, Jenkins said delegates discussed various important issues concerning Commonwealth sports management among member states.

Ghana’s Commonwealth Games Association Secretary General, Mohamed Sanhoon, said a key element of concern is how the associations impact various ministers from member states to be more responsive to their (associations) demands which he termed as key.

“It is important we align and collaborate with the politicians to have a common stand,” said Sanhoon.

He added that it is possible for Commonwealth member states from Africa to host championships especially when infrastructure is available.

“If the infrastructure is present I don’t see why Africa cannot host the Commonwealth Games as long as facilities are available, that is why we need government collaboration to make sure the facilities are available to encourage the young ones,” said Sanhoon.

Kenya’s Commonwealth Games Secretary General, Nicholas Mutuku, also said that the time to host the games in Africa is long overdue, noting that countries from the continent form a bulk of member states.

The two-day regional meeting ends on Tuesday.