Commonwealth Games Federation to Announce New 2026 Host Next Month

The Commonwealth Games Federation plans to announce a new host for its 2026 event in June with “multiple proposals” to replace Australia’s Victoria state, which withdrew as host in July 2023 because of a massive increase in the projected cost of staging the event.

The CGF on Monday said it was keeping the proposals confidential. The Commonwealth Games, established in 1930 as the British Empire Games, are open to 74 nations and territories and have been staged in Australia, Canada, England, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.

“Significant progress has been made and we are excited by the early concepts, which aim to reset and reframe the Games,” the CGF said in a statement following its April meeting. “We are working collaboratively with the relevant (members) to undertake further detailed assessments, and aim to announce the 2026 Commonwealth Games host in May.”

The Games had been scheduled for March 17-29 in the regional centers of Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton. The state government had promoted the multi-city model as a game changer, with the five regional centers hosting 20 sports and nine fully-integrated Para sports. Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said his government budgeted $1.8 billion to stage the Games but recent estimates put the potential cost as high as $4.8 billion.

“I’ve made a lot of difficult calls, a lot of very difficult decisions in this job,” Andrews said. “This is not one of them. … That (cost) does not represent value for money, that is all cost and no benefit.”

Victoria state agreed to a compensation package with the Commonwealth Games Federation, which will help offset costs for the next hosts. Australia’s Gold Coast, which held the 2018 Commonwealth Games, was flagged as a potential host for 2026 but could not get state or federal funding.

Last month, an Australian inquiry into the Victoria government’s decision to cancel announced it cost the state 5$385 million and the price estimate that resulted in it being shelved was “overstated and not transparent.” Craig Phillips, chief executive officer of Commonwealth Games Australia, said the inquiry findings “confirms the gross exaggeration of costs detailed by the then premier when he made the decision to cancel.”