UK Government confirms Birmingham bid for 2022 Commonwealth Games

Karen Bradley, the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said in a statement on Friday that the bid had the full backing of the government.

"Our focus now is to work alongside Birmingham’s excellent bid team and Commonwealth Games England to put forward the strongest possible bid to the Commonwealth Games Federation, while ensuring that we get maximum value for money for the taxpayer," she said.

Saturday is the deadline for bids, with Birmingham seen as a favourite to be awarded the Games which were originally due to go to the South African city of Durban.

Durban was removed as host in March, after failing to agree to financial guarantees and losing government support, and a replacement city is expected to be chosen by the end of the year.

The Commonwealth Games Federation executive board meets in Sri Lanka next month.

Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and the Canadian city of Victoria are also in the running but both have sent mixed signals in recent months concerning their ability to pay for the event.