Australia pulls out of hosting 2026 Commonwealth Games due to ballooning costs

The Australian state of Victoria said on July 18 it was pulling out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games citing the cost which it said had ballooned to at least $4.1 billion -- throwing the whole tournament into doubt.

With planning and extensive market soundings complete, it was clear that holding the Regional Victorian Commonwealth Games would have a price tag of more than double the estimated economic benefit the Games would bring the state, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said in a news release, UPI reports.

"We were pleased to be asked to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games -- but not at any price. I think all Victorians would agree that more than $4.1 billion is just too much," said Andrews.

Andrews said the state would still deliver on locals' demands for "more places to live and more places to stay across regional Victoria" pledging to spend $1.4 billion of the money saved from cancelling the games on ensuring the state still received the promised benefits.

"The main reason we agreed to host the Games was to deliver lasting benefits in housing, tourism and sporting infrastructure for regional Victoria," Andrews said

The Commonwealth Games Federation, which prior to Victoria stepping up in April 2022 encountered great difficulty in finding takers to host the event, said the $4.1 billion the state cited was 50 per cent more than it had communicated as recently as last month and that it had ignored CGF advice by adding more sports, venues and an extra regional hub, which had significantly boosted the cost.

"We are disappointed that we were only given eight hours' notice and that no consideration was given to discussing the situation to jointly find solutions prior to this decision being reached by the government," the London-headquartered CGF said.

"Up until this point, the government had advised that sufficient funding was available to deliver the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games. We are taking advice on the options available to us and remain committed to finding a solution for the Games in 2026."

Andrews promised that representatives of the state government would seek "the very best deal" for Victorian taxpayers when they met CGF officials in London for talks later on July 18.

The cost of holding the 12-day games in mostly smaller cities across the state including Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat, as opposed to Melbourne, was originally estimated at $1.8 billion.

The Liberal Party opposition's leader John Pesutto strongly rebuked the ruling Labor party's handling of the issue which he said was embarrassing for Victoria.

"The Andrews Government's decision to scrap the 2026 Commonwealth Games is a massive humiliation for Victoria. This decision is a betrayal of regional Victoria and confirms that Victoria is broke and Labor simply cannot manage major projects without huge cost blowouts," Pesutto said in a Twitter post.

International Olympic Committee and former Australia Olympic Committee member John Coates said the lack of financial assistance from the federal government destined any regional games to failure, adding that "regional models don't work."

"Firstly, you have the cost of building the venues in regional cities, some of which are dismantled and therefore provide no legacy for the region. Secondly, by virtue of their smaller size, the venues don't yield revenue via gate takings.

The premiers of Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales have already ruled their states out, as Coates said it didn't appear likely another city would step up.

"Premier Andrews anticipates the cost of the 2026 scheduled games in regional Victoria would blow out to $4.7 billion. Security, including the ever-increasing cost of cybersecurity, would represent a big proportion of that," Coates said. "Security is usually a cost borne by a federal government which, in the case of the 2026 Games, gave Victoria nothing. How can the federal government say no to Daniel Andrews and fund another Australian city? I can't see that happening."

Australia has hosted the games five times, most recently in 2018 on Queensland's Gold Coast.

The 2022 games were held in Birmingham, Britain after Durban, South Africa, was replaced as the host city over a funding dispute.