(Reuters) – Australia’s state of Victoria has withdrawn as host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, placing the future of the quadrennial multi-sport event in doubt and raising questions about the benefits and continued relevance of the Games.
WHY HAS VICTORIA PULLED OUT?
Victoria withdrew citing a projected budget blowout.
The state’s premier Dan Andrews said the cost of hosting the Games could potentially rise to more than A$7 billion ($4.77 billion) from a budgeted A$2.6 billion ($1.77 billion).
“I will not take money out of hospitals and schools to fund an event that is three times the cost as estimated and budgeted for last year,” he added.
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), the global governing body, on the other hand, said Victoria’s estimates were 50% higher than those given to its organising committee board last month.
Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) also questioned the state’s cost estimates.
“The stated costs overrun, in our opinion, are a gross exaggeration,” CGA Chief Executive Craig Phillips said.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
Victoria’s decision to withdraw raises the possibility that the Games may not take place for the first time since being cancelled due to the Second World War.
Neighbouring New South Wales, of which 2000 Olympic Games hosts Sydney is the capital, as well as South Australia and Western Australia states, have ruled themselves out as hosts.
WHO COULD STEP IN?
The CGF has said it is disappointed by Victoria’s decision but is committed to finding a solution for the Games in 2026.
The English city of Birmingham, which was due to host in 2026, stepped in to save the 2022 games after South Africa were stripped of hosting rights over a lack of progress in preparations.
Birmingham’s decision to host in 2022 led to the CGF scrambling to find another host for 2026. Victoria was left as the only viable candidate after several other cities pulled out of the bidding process over cost concerns.
Alberta is Commonwealth Sport Canada’s preferred candidate to bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and the New Zealand Olympic Committee has shown interest in bringing the Commowealth Games back to the country in 2034.
WHAT ARE THE OTHER ISSUES?
The first Commonwealth Games, known at the time as the British Empire Games, were held in Hamilton, in Canada, in 1930.
The Games have only been cancelled twice previously — in 1942 and 1946 — but have struggled to find willing hosts in the past decade and questions continue to swirl about their relevance.
Five of the last six editions have been held in Australia or Britain and the Games’ colonial origins have attracted increasing criticism in recent years.
Organisers routinely describe the Games as the third-biggest sporting event in the world after the soccer World Cup and the Olympics. But that claim is largely based on the inclusion of India, despite the country’s 1.4 billion population showing only minimal interest in watching or reading about it.
In 2022 the Commonwealth Games was widely perceived as the “third event” for athletics behind the World and European championships, while such is the domination of Australia and Britain in the pool that even swimming struggles to appeal beyond a specialist audience.
TV rights, the main driver of income for international sports events, are tiny in comparison with the World Cup and the Olympics, leaving national and local governments facing the sort of budget deficit that ended Victoria’s involvement.
The changing face of the post-colonial world, and even the death of Queen Elizabeth, have also contributed to a feeling that perhaps the Games has run its course.
Britain’s Olympic diving champion Tom Daley condemned homophobia across Commonwealth nations on the eve of the opening ceremony in Birmingham in 2022.
Homosexuality is a criminal offence in 35 of the 56 nations that make up the Commonwealth, with many still enforcing colonial-era laws from the British empire. Punishments include whipping, life imprisonment and death.
($1 = 1.4689 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by William Maclean)
