With less than three years to go, the Victorian government’s decision Australia will withdraw from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games (CWG) This is a resounding blow to the sports movement. With Durban being replaced by Birmingham for the 2022 edition, it is the second time in a row that the original host city has been unable to host the Games due to financial issues. Victoria, which specifically proposed holding the Games in one arena, initially projected a budget of AUS$2.6 billion, but its premier, Daniel Andrews, said the cost could exceed AUS$6 billion. For them 12 is too many. Day sports event. Without federal funding and Victoria struggling with its mounting debt, he said he could not borrow money from hospitals and schools to fund the event. Even though the development has come as a major embarrassment for Australia, which has hosted five CWG editions (including the 2018 Gold Coast), Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is keen to host the Women’s Football World Cup and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics , which will run in a different way. Long term revenue model. Still, the country may grapple with reliability issues before Brisbane 2032. According to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which was given only eight hours’ notice, the decision to add more sports and reschedule the venues added considerable expense.
Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive Craig Phillips said the cost overrun was a gross exaggeration, while Victoria’s opposition leader John Pesutto described the cancellation as ‘a huge disgrace’. This development has put a question mark on the future of big-ticket multi-sport events due to the staggering financial burden associated with hosting them. While hosts are considering ways to control cost overruns, rising expenses have made organizing such games a privilege for larger economies. Of the 22 editions of the CWG that began as the British Empire Games (1930), only five countries have hosted 18, and no African country has ever hosted the Olympics, which points to this. The uncertainty surrounding the Commonwealth Games will frustrate Indian sportspersons who have done well in these Games, including in 2010 when Delhi hosted it. Thousands of athletes from the 72 Commonwealth countries and territories will be hoping the CGF succeeds in the difficult task of finding an alternative host. But questions will continue to be asked about the necessity of what many might consider a chronological phenomenon, a coming together of nations based on shared colonial history rather than geography.