91�ȱ�

Louise Martin has been elected as the Commonwealth Games Federation's (CGF) first female president in its history.

Martin beat the incumbent Prince Tunku Imran of Malaysia at the CGF general assembly in Auckland on Wednesday.

Durban was also confirmed as host city for the 2022 games, the first to be held in Africa.

"I want to make sure the best athletes in the Commonwealth make the Games the cornerstone of their calendars," said Martin.

Many top-class athletes have chosen to skip recent Games, while there has been a shortage of cities bidding to host the event.

The former Scotland swimmer Martin, who was the vice-chairperson of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, had pledged to boost the commercial opportunities for the Federation and its members and to ensure the Games attracted elite athletes once more.

"To achieve everything I want costs money and as we know, our income is under extreme pressure from our expenditure," she said.

"I believe the answer is to open our doors to commercial sponsorship and while it will be difficult I'm convinced that once we sign our first top-tier sponsor, others will follow."

Stewart Harris, chief executive of sportscotland said: "It seems fitting that Louise was elected just ahead of the Commonwealth Youth Games, an event she was instrumental in creating, and as the first ever female President of the CGF, Louise continues to be a trailblazer in sport.

"Louise has already had a huge impact across the Scottish sporting landscape and I know she will do a great job across the Commonwealth as President of the CGF."