ALEX SALMOND has hit back at claims the team behind Scotland's Commonwealth Games bid are wasting public money by taking a delegation of 46 to Sri Lanka ahead of Friday's crucial vote.

The First Minister, who will fly out to Colombo tomorrow, insisted every member of the travelling party had a role in the final stages of lobbying ahead of the ballot at the General Assembly of the Commonwealth Games Federation.

"The team will include people who have personal knowledge of the electorate, of individual delegates from around the Commonwealth, and people who looked after these key individuals during their visits to Scotland this summer," said Salmond, right.

"That personal knowledge of the electorate is absolutely vital. It would be extremely foolish, at this stage, if we didn't treat this seriously," he added.

The trip is costing an estimated £100,000, which will come out of the bid team's £6 million budget. The size of the Scottish contingent has been criticised, by Glasgow SNP councillor John Mason, among others.

Glasgow is favourite over Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, to host the event in 2014 but Salmond insists there can be no complacency.

The result is expected to be announced just before 1pm GMT on Friday.

l Special report: sport