Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: Start date pushed back by 24 hours

The Alexander Stadium will be a focal point for the 2022 Commonwealth Games

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will start 24 hours later than originally scheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic's impact on the sporting calendar.

It will run from 28 July-8 August.

The move will allow athletes competing at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, United States - which finishes on 24 July - an extra day of recovery.

It will also avoid a clash with the semi-finals of women's football's European Championship.

Organisers hope this will help to "protect and promote the profile of women's sport".

John Crabtree, chairman of Birmingham 2022, said: "The Covid-19 pandemic has had a seismic impact on the international sporting calendar for the next couple of years.

"This has understandably needed to be reshaped and rewritten and we've spent the last few weeks working with other organisations to align, collaborate, and analyse what these changes mean for Birmingham 2022, our athletes, our spectators, our TV viewers, and our partners.

"As well as this slight change to our dates we are working on a detailed competition schedule for our 19 sports, looking at how we can maximise the recovery time for those athletes who will be looking to participate in more than one major event in two years' time."