LONDON - The organisers of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester have been criticised for failing to give the event a high enough profile with just over a year to go until it gets underway.
A report by Britain's Culture, Media and Sport select committee yesterday claimed that merchandising for
the Games is currently "almost invisible" in contrast to the preparations that were laid for last year's hugely successful Sydney Olympics.
"The Manchester Commonwealth Games lack the immediate brand identity that helped to give the Sydney Olympic merchandising effort such a high profile, but the lack of such a clear profile means that the effort should be greater, not less," the report reads.
"The Sydney Games merchandise was very visible across Australia more than 18 months before the Games themselves. We are concerned that merchandising for the Manchester Commonwealth Games is still almost invisible."
The report recommends that Commonwealth Games shops should be established outside Manchester.
Games organisers have currently raised $NZ105 million of the proposed operating budget of $NZ218 million, and the event's commercial director Niels de Vos remains bullish over the prospect of making up the balance before the Games start on July 26.
"There are more potential sponsors in the pipeline," he said.
"The people we are negotiating with at the moment, some of whom will come to the party, some of whom won't, could bring us a total to match the amount we have already raised.
"I do not really accept the concept of defeat because we are still 15 months away from the Games. You would not expect Sir Alex Ferguson to give up the Premiership title when he was 15 points short if the season had not yet ended."
- INDEPENDENT
