Victoria Decides To Pull Out Of Hosting 2026 Commonwealth Games

Summary:

• Victoria won the rights in April 2022 to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games
• Victoria estimated that it would cost $2.6 billion to host the Games but got it wrong
• Victoria decided to drop out as the estimate was now hitting $7 billion

Hosting the Commonwealth Games is big deal and hence why there is a lot of competition from different countries around the world.

In April 2022, Victoria (Australia) confirmed that they had won the rights to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games after taking over from Durban after they were stripped of the event in 2017 due to financial concerns.

Victoria Opts Out Due To Wrong Financial Estimates

Victoria was initially very happy to have won the rights to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games and estimated that it would take around $2.6 billion to host the 12 day event. The 2026 Commonwealth Games was expected to take place across the state with Gippsland, Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo playing host to athlete villages.

The 2026 Commonwealth Games was also expected to create thousands of jobs for rural Victoria and result in a spike of tourists. However, none of that is going to happen now as Premier Daniel Andrews has decided to scrap the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Andrews said that it was a hard decision to make but not a very difficult decision as it did not make financial sense anymore for Victoria! The new estimate for the 2026 Commonwealth Games was coming up to $7 billion, which would officially make it the most expensive Commonwealth Games in history, after the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi which cost $4.1 billion.

News channels and opposition parties questioned the Andrew’s government for their decision to scrap the 2026 Commonwealth Games. The raised doubts over how they ended up with a $7 billion budget, sarcastically enquiring if they were going to build swimming pools made out of gold!

John Pesutto, Victorian Opposition Leader said this decision was a massive betrayal to Regional Victoria and a humiliation to all of Victoria.

Andrews Government Releases Statement

The Andrews government informed the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee on 18 July of their decision to drop out. They also confirmed that now that they were not hosting the games, they would spend over $2 billion to Regional Victoria.

In a statement, Andrews said

First and foremost, each and every one of the permanent sporting facilities that were to be legacy benefits from the Games will be built!