New Delhi has been chosen to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the event's governing body said, becoming only the second Asian host in the Games' 80-year history.
Indian sports officials hailed the move as a victory for the Indian capital and for the Commonwealth movement. "We are very, very happy," Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi said from the Commonwealth Games Federation's (CGF) congress in Jamaica after last night's vote.
The federation opted for New Delhi by an overwhelming 46-22 margin over its only rival, the Canadian city of Hamilton.
"People in CGF realised there had been injustice with India and the big margin is a testimony of that," Kalmadi said. "Fifty per cent of the Commonwealth stays in India. We are a billion-strong people and it can be regarded as a victory for the Commonwealth movement."
With a projected Games budget of $420 million, it will also be a major boost for the sprawling Indian capital of almost 14 million people. "It will transform Delhi in a major way like the 1982 Asian Games did," said Vijay Kumar Malhotra, a senior sports official and a ruling party lawmaker in Delhi.
New Delhi lost its bid to host the 1994 Games to Victoria, Canada, and had argued the event should be shifted outside Britain, Australia and Canada which between them have hosted most of the games since they began in 1930.