Glasgow 2014 Hits Out Over Rival Criticism

The bid team behind Glasgow’s candidature to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games have registered a complaint over criticism of the Scottish city by a politician from rival bidder the Nigerian capital Abuja.

Nigerian sports minister Bala Kaoje is reported to have claimed that Glasgow’s crime rate was worse than that in Abuja – an accusation that goes against the Commonwealth Games Federation’s rules on criticism of rival bid cities.

A Glasgow 2014 spokeswoman said: ‘It’s accepted practice when bidding for major events that competing cities do not criticise each other.

‘It’s unfortunate that from reports the minister appears to have both disregarded this rule and all objective evidence about such factors in his own country.’