Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) has tabled a proposal to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) to host a “scaled-back” edition of the multi-sport event in 2026 as a backup option.
Earlier in April, the CGF stated that it was in talks with multiple parties about hosting the games, and CGS has now publicly offered itself up as a potential host should those offers not come to fruition.
CGS’ plan for the games, which would be hosted around the city of Glasgow, would be projected to cost between £130-£150 million ($162-$187 million), and a reduced 11-day program of 10-13 sporting events staged at existing sports facilities in the city.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games were originally set to be hosted by the Australian state of Victoria but it withdrew in July 2023 owing to a huge increase in the projected cost of staging the games - originally projected to hit A$2.6 billion ($1.7 billion), the original cost then rose to an untenable A$6 billion.
In its withdrawal, Victoria had to pay $A$380 million to the CGF as compensation, £100 million of which the CGS has budgeted to use for the financing of its Commonwealth Games proposal, with the remaining £30-£50 million to be drawn from ticketing, sponsorship, and broadcast revenue.
Queensland, another Australian state, withdrew its own bid to host the games soon after with Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate citing the costs, differences in vision, and the city of Brisbane’s hosting of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic games as reasons why it pulled out.
Subsequently, the CGF offered Malaysia £100 million from the Victoria settlement to host the games in 2026, but the country declined given its commitment to hosting the 2027 South East Asian Games, as well as the cost of hosting the Commonwealth Games.
CGS’ proposal would not require the construction of new purpose-built facilities, nor additional accommodation, seeking to make use of facilities existing from the last time the city hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
Speaking on the proposal, CGS chair Ian Reid stated: “Glasgow has a fantastic track record of delivering large sporting events within sensible budgets, with world-class facilities and expertise already in place as a legacy of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games a decade ago.
“We believe our concept provides the CGF with a viable, cost-effective, and exciting solution which importantly won’t involve significant sums of public funding.”
The CGF has not indicated which countries are currently in talks to host the games, only that a decision will be announced within a month of April 8.
Ghana’s minister for youth and sports Mustapha Ussif has expressed the African country’s interest in hosting the games, following a successful edition of the 2023 African Games in its capital city of Accra, while the Singapore National Olympic Council has already ruled itself out of any hosting duties.
