SYDNEY, Nov 12: Australia’s Gold Coast has been chosen to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the event’s governing body said in St Kitts and Nevis on Friday.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) opted for Gold Coast by a 43-27 margin over its only rival, the Sri Lankan city of Hambantota.

The subtropical beachside region of Queensland will bring the Games to Australia for a fifth time, after Sydney in 1938, Perth (1962), Brisbane (1982) and Melbourne (2006).

“We’ve done a lot of hard work and it was very clear earlier in the week that there were a lot delegates wanting to support Hambantota,” a jubilant Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said. “It’s been a very, very close vote.

The Gold Coast bid represented the safer of the two with the CGF still smarting from the public relations disaster that surrounded the Delhi Games last year when last-minute government intervention was required to clean up filthy facilities and dangerous infrastructure.

Sri Lanka had been bidding to stage the Games for the first time, with the Asian continent having previously played host just twice with Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and India’s New Delhi last year.—Reuters