THE UK Government has agreed to back Birmingham’s bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and guarantee costs that it is understood could total £750 million.

Birmingham City Council will have to fund a quarter of that but the rest of the budget will be provided by central government.

Earlier this month, an expert panel working on behalf of the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) recommended Birmingham’s pitch for the event over a bid from Liverpool.

That recommendation has now been approved, with Treasury backing, and Birmingham’s bid will be formally submitted by Commonwealth Games England to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) today.

The multi-sport event was originally awarded to Durban in 2015 but the CGF stripped the Games from the South African city earlier this year because of financial problems.

This fired the gun on an abridged bidding race and it soon became clear that whichever of Birmingham or Liverpool came through the English process would be the hot favourite.

With putative bids from Australia and Canada fading away and Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur now signalling it is more interested in a push for 2026, Birmingham 2022 would appear to be a done deal.

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said: “The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham would be brilliant. It would showcase the best of Britain to the world and make the entire country proud.

“Not only would it help grow the economy in the West Midlands and beyond, it would also leave a strong sports legacy.”