Commonwealth Games Federation

Commonwealth Games Federation

Predecessor	British Commonwealth Games Federation
Formation	1932; 92 years ago (1932) as British Empire Games Federation
Type	Sports federation
Headquarters	London, England
Membership	72 member associations[1]
Official language	English[2]
President	Dame Louise Martin[3]
Vice Presidents	Bruce Robertson[4] Chris Jenkins[5] Kereyn Smith[6]
Patron	King Charles III[7]
Vice-Patron	The Duke of Edinburgh[8]
Website	www.thecgf.com
Values: Humanity  • Equality  • Destiny

Commonwealth Games
Main topics
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Games
Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Paraplegic Games Commonwealth Winter Games Commonwealth Youth Games Commonwealth Esports Championships
v t e

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), currently known as Commonwealth Sport, is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is the governing body of the Commonwealth Games Associations (CGA). The headquarters of CGF are located in London, England.^[9]

Due to the success of the first 1930 British Empire Games in Hamilton, Canada, a meeting of representatives from Great Britain, its dominions, colonies and territories decided that the games, similar to the Olympic Games should be held every four years, and that an authoritative organisation should be formed. Following the 1932 Summer Olympics, it was decided to form the "British Empire Games Federation" who would be responsible for the organising of the games. The name of the federation was changed in 1952 to the "British Empire and Commonwealth Games Federation", and again in Jamaica in 1966 to the "British Commonwealth Games Federation", until eventually being changed again in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1974 to the "Commonwealth Games Federation".^[10]

The youth version of the Commonwealth Games was launched in August 2000, which is known as the Commonwealth Youth Games. The inaugural edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games was first held in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The following people are in the CGF executive board:^[11]

Designation		Name	Country
Vice-Patron		Prince Edward	United Kingdom
President		Dame Louise Martin	Scotland
Vice-Presidents		Mr. Bruce Robertson	Canada
		Mr. Chris Jenkins	Wales
		Ms. Kereyn Smith	New Zealand
Regional Vice-Presidents	Africa	Mrs. Miriam Moyo	Zambia
	Americas	Ms. Judy Simons	Bermuda
	Asia	Mr. Chris Chan	Singapore
	Caribbean	Mrs. Fortuna Belrose	Saint Lucia
	Europe	Mr. Harry Murphy	Gibraltar
	Oceania	Mr. Hugh Graham	Cook Islands
Legal Advisor		Ms. Sandra Osborne	Barbados
Athlete Representative		Mr. Brendan Williams	Dominica
Audit & Risk Committee Chair		Ms. Mary Hardy	England
Medical Advisor		Dr. Peter Harcourt	Australia

The following people are the Honorary members of the CGF executive board:

Designation	Name	Country
Honorary Life Presidents	Hon. Michael Fennell, OJ, CD	Jamaica
	Sir Peter Heatly, CBE DL	Scotland
	HRH Tunku Imran	Malaysia
Honorary Life Vice-Presidents	Alexander B. Chapman, HBM	Trinidad and Tobago
	Sharad Rao	Kenya
	A de O Sales, CBE, JP	Hong Kong
	Sir Austin Sealy, SCM	Barbados
	Dr. Manikavasagam Jegathesan	Malaysia
	Gideon Sam	South Africa

The General Assembly is the ultimate governance and authority in the CGF with powers to vote on decisions, including on which cities and Commonwealth Games Association's will host the Commonwealth Games. It consists of 3 or more representatives of a Commonwealth Games Association of each member countries and territories, the Vice-Patron, Life Vice-Presidents and the members of the Executive Board.

Sessions of the General Assembly are chaired by the CGF President, with each CGA and the President having one vote. However the Vice-Patron, Life Vice-Presidents, the Executive Board, representatives of an Organising Committee (OC) of a Commonwealth Games and observers invited by the President may deliberate but do not have voting powers at the General Assembly.^[12]

As well as awarding medals to athletes, the Federation may award membership of the Order of Merit (Commonwealth Games Federation) for distinguished services rendered to the Commonwealth Games movement, including the games themselves, to the federation and to a Commonwealth Games Association. The honour is awarded on the recommendation of the Executive Board at the General Assembly.

On recommendation of the Executive Board, at General Assembly the federation may also elect Life Vice-Presidents, providing there are no more than six Life Vice-Presidents at a time as an award for services to the CGF. Former Chairmen and presidents automatically become a Life Vice-President.^[13]

The President of the Commonwealth Games Federation is responsible for chairing the Executive Board and the General Assembly. A candidate is elected to the position by the General Assembly the year following the Commonwealth Games. Other duties include inviting the Head of the Commonwealth for the opening and closing declaration of the games and overseeing the preparations for upcoming events.

Previously before the XVI Commonwealth Games in 1998, the President was a ceremonial role, taking on the duties of the Vice-Patron. The late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh served as the president between 1955 and 1990.^[14][15] The chairman was elected by the General Assembly as head of the Commonwealth Games Federation.^[16]

No.	Name	Origin	Took office	Left office	Games
1	Sir James Leigh-Wood, KBE, CB, CMG	England	1930	1938	1930: I British Empire Games 1934: II British Empire Games 1938: III British Empire Games
2	Arthur Porritt, Baron Porritt, Bt., KCMG CBE	New Zealand	1950	1966	1950: IV British Empire Games 1954: V British Empire and Commonwealth Games 1958: VI British Empire and Commonwealth Games 1962: VII British Empire and Commonwealth Games 1966: VIII British Empire and Commonwealth Games
3	Sir Alexander Ross	New Zealand	1968	1982	1970: IX British Commonwealth Games 1974: X British Commonwealth Games 1978: XI Commonwealth Games 1982: XII Commonwealth Games
4	Peter Heatly, CBE, DL	Scotland	1982	1990	1986: XIII Commonwealth Games 1990: XIV Commonwealth Games
5	Arnaldo de Oliveira Sales GBM, OBE, JP	Hong Kong	1994	1997	1994: XV Commonwealth Games
6	Michael Fennell, OJ, CD	Jamaica	1997	2010	1998: XVI Commonwealth Games 2000: I Commonwealth Youth Games 2002: XVII Commonwealth Games 2004: II Commonwealth Youth Games 2006: XVIII Commonwealth Games 2008: III Commonwealth Youth Games 2010: XIX Commonwealth Games
7	Prince Tunku Imran of Negeri Sembilan	Malaysia	2010	2014	2011: IV Commonwealth Youth Games 2014: XX Commonwealth Games
8	Dame Louise Martin, DBE	Scotland	2014	2023	2015: V Commonwealth Youth Games 2017: VI Commonwealth Youth Games 2018: XXI Commonwealth Games 2022: XXII Commonwealth Games 2023: VII Commonwealth Youth Games
9	Chris Jenkins	Wales	2023	Present	2025: VIII Commonwealth Youth Games 2026: XXIII Commonwealth Games

• Global Association of International Sports Federations
• International Olympic Committee

• Commonwealth Sport website
• The CGF on Twitter