STAKES were raised in the race to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games yesterday when First Minister Jack McConnell announced the 17 sports which will be on the programme if Glasgow wins the critical November 9 vote.

In doing so, it was confirmed that the projected Games budget is £288m, in line with The Herald's projection that it would be around £280m. The final budget in the document to be submitted on May 9 to the Commonwealth Games Federation is unlikely to change, the bid office confirmed yesterday.

Glasgow is out of the blocks ahead of its rivals, said Mr McConnell, addressing a media conference at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall. Over the next few weeks the city council and the Scottish cabinet will thrash out details, but these will not be made public.

"We will not hand any gifts to the opposition," he said. "We were the first country to nominate our preferred city, the first to officially lodge our intention to bid, and today we are the first to announce the 17 sports that will make up our programme. We have been ahead of the competition at every stage in this campaign, and between now and May will give them no advantage by giving unnecessary details."

Shooting is included, despite the backlash against guns triggered by the Dunblane massacre in 1996.

The sports confirmed yesterday may be regarded by some as disappointingly conservative. Golf, amid hopes it would be included for the first time, and Twenty20 cricket, have failed to make it. So has tennis, and the finances of basketball and archery could be undermined by their removal from the programme.

Tennis and archery are on the schedule for Delhi in 2010. Scotland's national tennis coach, Ellinore Lightbody, said its omission by Glasgow was, "bitterly disappointing, given the resurgence of our game, and clearly political. I understand that our inclusion was considered detrimental to Glasgow's chances of winning the vote. Not enough Commonwealth countries play."

Archery, also included by India for 2010, is stunned by its exclusion. Scots recently won five medals at the Commonwealth championships and their youth bowmen won the Junior Home Nations last year.

"We have written to express what we think about the decision," said the Scottish Archery Association president, Bob Provan. "There is a lot of politics, and we understand the reasons, but it is still hard to take."

There are ten compulsory core sports. Until the Commonwealth Federation met in Kuala Lumpur last November there were just five: athletics, aquatics, lawn bowls, rugby and netball. However, boxing, badminton, squash, weightlifting and hockey were added three months ago, and these 10 are on the Glasgow programme by right. The others named in addition to shooting are cycling, wrestling, judo, gymnastics, table tennis and triathlon.

"Scotland has hosted a major event in every sport on this list," said Steven Purcell, leader of Glasgow City Council. "This is a city and country committed to sport and to winning the right to host the Games."

However, it was impossible to reach agreement to include Twenty20 cricket and golf, which Loch Lomond was enthusiastic about hosting.

"The choice was very much driven by the need to win the vote, and we are very disappointed to lose cricket and golf," said Louise Martin, chair of the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland.

Indeed, the International Cricket Council is still in discussion with the Commonwealth federation. "If they can reach agreement, a dispensation can be granted," Mrs Martin said. That would give Glasgow more sports than any previous Games.

Security costs, however, remain a grey area. Policing is a devolved responsibility and Scotland paid some £52m of the £72m security bill for the G8 conference at Gleneagles. Security is a reserved function, and as such is Westminster's responsibility. Meaningful dialogue with Whitehall on the definition of "policing" and "security" is ongoing, but Olympic security for London in 2012 is costed at £200m.

Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Abuja (Nigeria) will be Glasgow's rivals at the vote, due to take place on November 9.