Durban has lost the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Sascoc president Gideon Sam confirmed on Monday.

Event organisers missed various submission deadlines with the Commonwealth Games Federation. Last month, South Africa’s minister of sport, Fikile Mbalula, indicated the city may not be able to host the event because of financial constraints.

Durban was the only city to launch a formal bid to host the Games after Edmonton in Canada withdrew.

‘We gave it our best shot, but we can’t go beyond. If the country says we don’t have this money, we can’t,” Sam told Reuters on Monday.

‘This is a huge disappointment for us and for the whole African continent. But without the necessary government guarantees, we couldn’t move on.

‘Everybody was very excited to see the Commonwealth Games staged in Durban, which was very well equipped to host the event, but once the economics started to play a role, it became difficult.

‘We had hoped to make this a Games for all of Africa, and so this is a very sad day for the whole continent.’

Liverpool has already expressed its interest in stepping in to host the Games.