Uniting the Commonwealth through Sport
The Commonwealth Games Federation has 71 country members currently split into 6 regions of Africa, Americas, Asia, Caribbean, Europe and Oceania. Each region has a representative on the Executive Board of CGF.
While the Executive Board is made up of people from across the world the main offices and staff are based in London. In addition to the administration of the Federation the staff work with the organising committees of Games cities to ensure compliance with Games requirements.
History of the Games
The first Commonwealth Games were held in 1930 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Eleven countries with 400 athletes in total participated in the first Commonwealth Games. $30,000 was provided by the City of Hamilton to these nations to help cover travelling costs. Since then, the Games have been conducted every four years except for 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.
From 1930 to 1950 the Games were known as the British Empire Games, then the British Empire and Commonwealth Games until 1962. From 1966 to 1974 they took on the title of British Commonwealth Games and from 1978 it has been known as the Commonwealth Games. Read more…