Coun Hassall said thousands of sporting stars and team crew members could be put up in the city’s universities’ accommodation.

He said: “The NEC alone could host a major country for just about everything.”

During his visit, Lord Coe said: “Birmingham is one of the jewels in the crown in terms of sport. “Something like 90 per cent of championships that have come to Britain in the last decade or so, have come to Birmingham or the West Midlands so this is an area that really does understand the impact of sport.”

Coun Hassall said: “At this stage I suspect we’re getting people still looking at what we’ve got.

“The Beijing games have only just finished and some countries won’t make a decision for some time.

“What we need is to get countries to come and have a look.

“Whichever country comes here, they will probably find we’ve got some of their population in the city now.”