With Decision Day just over 200 days away we are turning our attention to the next crucial stage in the bidding process – on the 8th June we will welcome the Commonwealth Games Federation’s Evaluation Commission to Glasgow.

The Evaluation Commission are a highly regarded group of individuals with a wealth of experience in organising large-scale sporting occasions. The aim of their visit is to assess if Glasgow meets the CGF’s requirements to host the Games. It is their job to examine every aspect of our bid, to go through the Candidate City File page by page and test our team on every answer we’ve given to any question in this 240 page document. This is a tough challenge, Glasgow 2014 is about to be put through its paces.

The Federation’s Regional Vice President for Oceania, John Tierney, will chair the 2014 Evaluation Commission, heading a five strong team who will visit both candidate cities, Abuja in Nigeria and Glasgow in Scotland.

Mr Tierney will be joined by Dato Sieh Kok Chi, Secretary General for the Olympic Council of Malaysia; Dr Larry Davis, Secretary General of the Barbados Olympic Association; Mike Hooper, Chief Executive of the CGF and Craig McLatchey who is the Chief Executive of Event Knowledge Services. The team will also be supported by two further technical advisors.

The CGF has entrusted this group with a huge task, to produce a technical evaluation of both cities bidding for the Games. The Commission will question and query every section of our bid to discover if Glasgow will be ready to stage the biggest sporting event this country could ever hope to host. With stiff competition from Nigeria, a country with excellent sporting facilities, we must work hard to impress. We must show what we can deliver.

Between the 10th and 14th June Glasgow 2014 will present briefings on each of the 17 themes included in the Candidate City File. Our experts in venue design must be ready to explain how we will convert Hampden; our transport advisors answer how we will move 1 million people across the city, our security personnel must be on hand to detail the technology that will keep athletes and spectators safe. Together our team can expect to be asked the nitty-gritty of everything from marketing the Games to how we projected ticket sales and prices.

The Commission will also visit all competition sites, meet the media and attend one official reception, hosted by several of Scotland’s most influential figures from the world of politics, sport and culture. Nigeria will organise a similar itinerary of events from the 4th to the 8th June.

The sports venues lie at the heart of any Games. One strength we will be able to speak about is that Glasgow 2014 would be a compact Games. The Evaluation Commission will see first-hand that the vast majority of our venues are located no more than 20 minutes from the Games Village. With 70 percent of our venues already in place they will witness the world class facilities we will offer.

Speaking about the forthcoming visit, Derek Casey, Glasgow 2014 Bid Director said; “We are looking forward to welcoming the Evaluation Commission to Glasgow. This visit provides an opportunity to bring our bid to life and demonstrate the passion Scotland has for hosting these Games. It will be a tough week; this is an extremely important group when it comes to deciding who will win. It is their job to complete a thorough examination of Glasgow and Scotland’s ability to host one of the world’s premier sporting events, but I am confident in the technical aspects of Glasgow 2014’s bid”

The Evaluation Commission’s report will be published on the 9th September 2007. Commonwealth Games Federation members will receive a copy of the report ahead of the General Assembly at which the next Host City will be selected.

If you haven’t done so already, this is your chance to play a part in winning the biggest sporting prize of all for Scotland, please pledge your support at www.glasgow2014.com and show the Commission that the people of Scotland Back Scotland’s Bid.