Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games CEO Ian Reid says extensive preparations for the event are coming together well , while demand for tickets is reassuringly strong .

With 72 nations and territories set to compete and the biggest sports programme in the history of the Games due to be delivered , Birmingham 2022 will be the largest multi-sport event to be held in the UK for a decade .

The sports programme includes 19 different sports and has eight integrated para sports – more than ever before at a Commonwealth Games . In total , we will host 286 sessions of sport in 14 venues which are located in Birmingham , the wider West Midlands region and beyond .

For the first time ever at a Commonwealth Games the sports programme will include women ’ s cricket T20 , basketball 3x3 and wheelchair basketball

3x3 . Birmingham 2022 will also make history by becoming the first major multi-sport event to award more medals to women than men , something which we are proud of .

Our venues include fantastic established facilities such as the NEC , Arena Birmingham , Edgbaston Stadium and the Coventry Stadium , beautiful parks like Sutton Park in Birmingham , St Nicholas Park in Warwick , West Park in Wolverhampton and Victoria Park in Royal Leamington Spa and we will also be creating a hub for the Games in the centre of Birmingham at Smithfield , the city centre site which will stage the beach volleyball and basketball 3x3 competitions .

We also have two important capital projects included in our venue portfolio and I ’ m pleased to report that the construction of the brand-new Sandwell Aquatics Centre and the redevelopment of the Alexander Stadium is progressing extremely well . Both are on budget and on schedule and it is amazing how much progress has been made in the last 18 months , given the backdrop of a global pandemic .

It ’ s been a busy but exciting few months for the Birmingham 2022 team as we recently completed our volunteer recruitment campaign , attracting 41,000 applications for

Ian Reid

13,000 roles and we ’ ve delivered two major ticket ballots . In total , we ’ ve had more than 225,000 applications for tickets , demonstrating the clear appetite that exists to once again fill the stadiums at a major multi-sport event .

Birmingham 2022 will be a celebration of culture and creativity , as well as a celebration of sport , and we recently announced the creative team that will oversee the Opening and Closing ceremonies at the Games . Iit will be led by executive producer Steven Knight , the creator and writer of Peaky Blinders , and by worldrenowned theatre director Iqbal Khan , who is the artistic director .

In September , we also provided more details about the Birmingham 2022 Festival , six months of extraordinary creativity across the West Midlands , which will begin in March 2022 and wrap around the Games , helping us to reach and inspire even more people . At the start of October , the Queen ’ s Baton Relay was launched at a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace , and the baton began its journey around the Commonwealth .

In just nine months ’ time it will be back in Birmingham , so the countdown clock is ticking loud and clear , but we ’ ll be ready to stage a magnificent event and I , for one , can ’ t wait for the Games to begin .