Victoria pulled out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games in July, citing expected high costs. Last year’s event was held in Birmingham after the Commonwealth Games Federation stripped the South African city of Durban of its hosting rights in 2017.
Last updated: 08/09/23 10:08 AM
Australia hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which were held on the Gold Coast
The 2026 Commonwealth Games could be postponed by a year to allow an Australian host to salvage the multi-sport event after the state of Victoria pulled out of staging the next edition of the Games.
Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive Craig Phillips said the games’ global governing body was open to a postponement to give potential hosts more time to prepare.
“The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has already indicated that it is open to moving the Games to 2027 to give any potential host more time, and that is certainly something we have been looking at in relation to any state or any host city we speak to.” He told a parliamentary inquiry.
Victoria withdrew from hosting the 2026 Olympic Games last July, due to expected high costs. Last year’s event was held in Birmingham after the CGF stripped the South African city of Durban of its hosting rights in 2017.
Birmingham stepped in to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games after Durban withdrew as host
The future of the Games became more uncertain after the Canadian province of Alberta withdrew its support for the bid to host the 2030 event last month.
Phillips added that he hopes to present a solution to the CGF General Assembly in Singapore in November. However, no Australian state government has yet expressed interest in hosting the Games in Victoria’s place.
“It may be a scaled-down version of the Games, given the time we have, but if you look around the capital cities around Australia, they all have the capacity to host,” Phillips said.
The Commonwealth Games are a multi-sport tournament held every four years and were only canceled during World War II.
Australia, the most competitive nation at the Games, has hosted five of the previous 22 editions.
