Shock offer from Australia saves the 2026 Commonwealth Games after Victoria pulled out of holding the event

The Scottish Government is set to award Glasgow the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

The Scottish Government will meet with officials from Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) later on Monday to discuss the future of the multi-sport event.

CGA has offered a multi-million dollar investment, the missing piece in Scotland’s funding puzzle to enable Glasgow to host the 2026 edition.

The Scottish government is expected to formally accept Australia’s offer at Monday’s meeting, clearing the way for Glasgow to host, as it successfully did in 2014.

Both the Scottish and British governments are refusing to use public money to host the next edition in Glasgow, after Victoria pulled out as host last year.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) will provide Scotland with almost $200 million to help host the event, a sum that comes from the $380 million compensation received by the Victorian Government.

Scotland has asked the British government to fund the Games, contributing around $4.5 million to cover possible security expenses.

The UK refused and the Scottish government has also ruled out using public money.

The Scottish government is expected to officially accept Australia’s friendly offer

That prompted CGA chairman Ben Houston to reject an Australian offer for a “multimillion-pound investment”.

The Australian bid was not specified, but is said to be close to the $4.5 million Scotland wanted from the UK.

The CGF has endorsed Australia’s offer.

“We commend Commonwealth Games Australia for making this generous offer of millions of pounds,” CGF chairman Chris Jenkins said in a statement ahead of Australia’s meeting with the Scottish government.

And government sources told the BBC in Scotland: “If we remain confident that the public purse will not need to be opened to fund the Games, there is growing confidence that Monday will bring good news.”

The next edition in Glasgow will be a scaled-down version of the previous Games, featuring 10 to 13 sports, about a third fewer than the 2022 Games in Birmingham, England.

The Glasgow Games will be held in existing facilities and Australian funding is expected to help cover any additional policing and security costs.

Victoria withdrew as host of the 2023 ’26 Games in July due to expected cost overruns

In July last year, Victoria withdrew as host of the 2026 Games, citing expected cost increases from $2-3 billion to $6-7 billion.

A subsequent investigation found that Victoria’s decision was based on poor accounting, while other Australian states and territories declined to host the 2026 edition.

The Victorian government agreed to pay $380 million in compensation to the CGF, of which $200 million was offered to Scotland after countries including Malaysia and Singapore rejected the offer.

Victoria became the second consecutive Commonwealth Games host country to fail to deliver on its promise.

In 2015, Durban was selected as the host city for 2022, but 17 months later the South African city was withdrawn from the Games due to financial problems and missed deadlines.

Birmingham hosted in 2022.