Birmingham 2022 bosses have announced a 24-hour change in start date for the cities Commonwealth Games.

This means that the event will now begin on 28th July 2022 and run through to 8th August.

This announcement comes after significant impact to the international sporting calendar caused by COVID-19. This slight shift to the schedule is the result of many weeks of really positive collaboration between the organisers of some of the world’s major sporting events. Through these discussions, chiefs have managed to align with the World Athletics Championships, as well as the UEFA Women’s Football Championships, to ensure that Birmingham 2022 takes its place amongst an amazing summer of sport in 2022.

An added benefit of making this slight change is that the city now boasts two full weekends of Commonwealth Sport. Furthermore, it extends the rest and recovery period for athletes that plan to compete in the recently rescheduled World Athletics Championships in Oregon as well as Birmingham 2022.

This new start date means the opening ceremony will now take place on 28th July, avoiding a potential clash with the semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Football Championships, which has also been rescheduled from 2021 to 2022. This adjustment will help to protect and promote the profile of women’s sport. John Crabtree, Chairman of Birmingham 2022, said:

“The Covid-19 pandemic has had a seismic impact on the international sporting calendar for the next couple of years. This has understandably needed to be reshaped and rewritten and we’ve spent the last few weeks working with other organisations to align, collaborate, and analyse what these changes mean for Birmingham 2022, our athletes, our spectators, our TV viewers, and our partners.

“As well as this slight change to our dates we are working on a detailed competition schedule for our 19 sports, looking at how we can maximise the recovery time for those athletes who will be looking to participate in more than one major event in two years’ time.

“We’re grateful for the expert input we continue to receive from international federations, national governing bodies and athletes’ advisory committees and we’ll release more information later in the year.

“Birmingham 2022 will be at the heart of superb summer of sport, which will be particularly exciting for sports fans in the UK, with the UEFA Women’s Football Championships and the Commonwealth Games being held back to back.”

Chris Bryant, The FA’s Head of Tournament Delivery, added:

“With England due to host a home UEFA Women’s EURO and a home Commonwealth Games, the summer of 2022 is shaping up to be a fantastic summer of sport in this country.

"During what has been an unprecedented time for us all – both in the sporting community and beyond – we are thankful to the Commonwealth Games Federation for their continued collaboration as we seek to deliver a record-breaking home EURO in two years’ time.

"We look forward to working closely with both the CGF and Birmingham 2022 in the run up to our respective events to ensure we maximise this great opportunity to showcase the very best of women’s sport.”