Australia’s Victoria state has withdrawn as host of the 2026 Commonwealth Video games due to an enormous enhance within the projected value of staging the occasion.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday stated his authorities final yr agreed to host the following version of the quadrennial occasion “however not at any value”.
He stated they’d initially budgeted 2.6 billion Australian {dollars} (£1.4 billion) to stage the Video games in 5 regional cities, however current estimates put the potential value as excessive as 7 billion Australian {dollars} (£3.7 billion).
Andrews advised a information convention he’d notified Commonwealth Video games organisers of his authorities’s resolution to tug out of the internet hosting contract.
“Right this moment just isn’t about discovering fault with these value estimates,” he stated, declining to stipulate the explanations for the price discrepancy.
“Frankly, 6-7 billion Australian {dollars} for a 12-day sporting occasion, we aren’t doing that – that doesn’t characterize worth for cash, that’s all prices and no profit.”
The Video games had been scheduled for 17 -29 March 2026 within the regional centres of Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton in regional Victoria.
The state authorities had promoted the multi-city mannequin as a recreation changer, with the 5 regional centres internet hosting 20 sports activities and 9 fully-integrated Para sports activities.
The federal government’s web site had beforehand promoted Victoria 2026 as a showcase of “what makes the folks of our state tick: our unity, our variety, our sense of neighborhood, our welcoming angle and our love of sport”.
Birmingham stepped in to host the 2022 Video games in England to exchange Durban, South Africa.
Victoria state beforehand hosted the 2006 Commonwealth Video games in Melbourne.
The final version of the Video games held in Australia was on the Gold Coast, Queensland state, in 2018.
The Gold Coast is a part of the southeast Queensland space that’s scheduled to host occasions in the course of the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane.