Why the Commonwealth Games may never be held again after Daniel Andrews cancelled the 2026 event in Victoria

Victorian Prime Minister Daniel Andrews’ decision to cancel the 2026 Commonwealth Games could well be the final nail in the coffin for the international sporting event.

Experts warned 18 months ago that the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games could be the last ever after global interest in hosting the event faded in recent years.

The 2022 Games were originally set to be held in Durban in South Africa, but the city’s plans were scrapped due to concerns over spiraling costs.

“We’ve done our best, but we can’t go any further,” South African sports minister Fikile Mbalula admitted at the time.

“If the country says we don’t have this money, then we don’t have it [host it].’

On Tuesday, the state government said the projected cost of $7 billion was more than what their budget could afford or justify for a 12-day sporting event (pictured, Australia’s netball team celebrating winning gold at Birmingham in 2022)

Birmingham, the UK’s second largest city, stepped in to take over the 2022 event after none of the 70 countries in the Commonwealth Games Federations showed any interest in hosting it.

The English Midlands city was originally slated to host the Games in 2026, prompting event organizers to desperately try to fill the new gap in the schedule.

A lack of interest in the event continued when a ceremony to announce the hosts of the 2026 and 2030 Games to be held in Rwanda’s Kigali in 2019 had to be canceled due to a lack of willing participants.

Another announcement date in 2020 was also canceled due to the Covid pandemic.

Game organizers were then forced to skip the usual request for bids and instead approach Victoria directly to beg the state to host the quadrennial extravaganza.

Prime Minister Andrews agreed at the time on the basis that it would be held in regional Victoria rather than Melbourne in an effort to boost rural economies.

But on Tuesday Mr Andrews said the projected cost of $6-7 billion was more than what the budget could afford or justify for a 12-day sporting event.

The Commonwealth Games Federation said it received eight hours’ notice that the Games contract would be terminated and that the government had not discussed solutions with it before the decision was made.

It said the Victorian government had made the Games more expensive by adding more sports and an extra regional hub, often against advice.

The decision now casts doubt on the entire future of the Games.

In its 93-year history, the event has almost always been hosted in the UK, Australia/New Zealand and Canada, with Jamaica, India and Malaysia being the only other one-time hosts.

With Victoria pulling the plug on 2026, there are concerns about who can quickly fill the gap and the message it sends out for future hosts.

“It means we now clearly need to find a host who wants to work with CGF,” Commonwealth Games Australia CEO Craig Phillips said on Tuesday.

“Whether that could be here in Australia… we are certainly interested in talking to any state willing to host the Games.”

It was widely predicted that Canada would host the 2030 event to mark the 100th anniversary of the Games, returning to Hamilton, Ontario, the original site of the first Games in 1930.

Due to the centenary, it is unlikely that the city will be willing to move the Games to 2026 to fill the gap left by Victoria.

As one analyst predicted in 2022, when Birmingham stepped in to replace Durban, ‘it looks like the whole thing could collapse unless decisions can be made quickly’.

Jack Revell signed up The latch in February 2022: ‘There seems to be little interest from many former British colonies.

“After 92 years, only three countries are interested in keeping the tired imperial sporting event alive, and even then only with a little push.

“With top-level international sporting events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup attracting more and more attention each round, second-level events such as the Commonwealth Games could quickly become too much of a hassle.”

With Victoria pulling the plug on 2026, there is concern over who will be able to quickly fill the gap, and the message it sends for future hosts (pictured, Australian athletes at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games Federation said the decision was hugely disappointing and blamed the rising costs on the decision to host it in the regions.

“This is hugely disappointing for the Commonwealth Sport Movement, for athletes around the Commonwealth and the Organizing Committee who are well advanced in their planning and preparation,” said a CGF statement.

The reasons given are financial in nature.

“The figures quoted to us today of $6 billion are 50 percent more than the numbers advised by the Organizing Committee Board at its June meeting.

“These figures are attributed to price escalation, mainly due to the unique regional delivery model Victoria has chosen for these Games, and relate particularly to village and venue construction and transport infrastructure.”