Splashing out on the Manchester Games

By Mihir Bose

Monday will see a high-profile opening of the first new venue for Manchester's 2002 Commonwealth Games - the aquatic centre. Several dignitaries are travelling to Manchester from London to mark the fact that it is two years to the opening ceremony of the XVII Commonwealth Games.

Present will be Ian McCartney, the Cabinet Office minister, and Sharron Davies, the former Olympic silver medallist and former Commonwealth swimming champion. There will be a celebrity 50-metre swim featuring the great and good of British swimming, including Nick Gillingham, Adrian Moorhouse and David Wilkie.

But behind the glitzy headlines there have been further problems about the funding of the Games, although this time there is heavyweight political backing for finding the money and this new money is likely to be announced on Monday.

The politician who will produce the money is McCartney, the minister in overall charge of the Games. Financial problems with the Manchester Games are not exactly new, as readers of this column will recall, except that every time they have been highlighted the Games organisers, instead of admitting that their budgets were over-optimistic, have tried to make us believe that there are no problems; but, of course, they could do with more money if the Games are to be held in the style to which we are accustomed.

The basic problem seems to be in the projections as to how much money would be made from television, particularly overseas sales and sponsorship. The budget has been reviewed at least twice and it may need further revision. The fear is of a hole in the budget which could be as big as £30 million.

Charles Allan, chief executive of the Granada Group and a highly respected businessman, is now in charge of the project and insiders tell me that Allan, with his excellent contacts with Downing Street, will make sure the necessary funds are made available. And with McCartney's help the Treasury, I understand, has been persuaded to cough up.

Apart from the symbolic value of the Games coinciding with the 50th year of the reign of the Queen, the Government is concerned about the political fall-out. McCartney himself is a North-West MP, as is another minister in his department, Graham Stringer, who was leader of the council when Manchester was awarded the Games. The Government cannot afford a repeat of some of the mistakes of previous Games held in this country. Apart from the image problems it would present for a government concerned about its image there are also many crucial constituencies in the area.