The 2026
Commonwealth Games are in doubt after the Australian state of Victoria
cancelled its plans to host due to budget blowouts.
The Commonwealth
Games Federation (CGF) struggled to find a host before Victoria volunteered in
April 2022.
But the premier
said the projected cost had now tripled and become "well and truly too
much" for the state to bear.
CGF called the
decision "hugely disappointing" and said it is "committed to
finding a solution".
The Commonwealth
Games are a multi-sport tournament that take place every four years. They have
only ever been cancelled during World War Two.
To be eligible
to participate in the games, competitors must be from one of the Commonwealth's
56 members. Most of the countries in the Commonwealth were once part of the
British Empire.
Victorian
Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday said Victoria had been "happy to help
out" when approached to host last year, but "not at any price".
Organisers had
originally estimated the event - hosted across cities including Geelong,
Bendigo and Ballarat - would cost A$2.6bn (£1.4bn; $1.8bn) and the state
government had billed it as a boost for the regions.
But now the
12-day tournament was expected to cost more than A$6 billion, Mr Andrews said,
adding that the new figure was "more than twice the estimated economic
benefit" it would bring to Victoria.
"I've made
a lot of difficult calls, a lot of very difficult decisions in this job. This
is not one of them," he told a press conference.
"That is
all cost and no benefit."
The government
will still complete the stadium upgrades it had promised ahead of the games,
while using the money it is now saving on housing and tourism initiatives.
Mr Andrew said
the government had considered "every option" including moving the
games to Melbourne, before informing CGF of their decision.
"Amicable
and productive" meetings had occurred in London overnight, he added.
But in a
statement on Tuesday, the governing body said they were blindsided by the
decision.
"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," it said in a statement.
CGF said the
estimate of A$6bn is double the figure they were advised of at a board meeting
last month, and that the increase in costs were due to the "unique
regional delivery model" that Victoria chose for the games.
The government
had made decisions to include more sports and changed plans for venues, often
against the advice of the CGF and its Australian arm, all of which added
"considerable expense", it said.
Victorian
Opposition Leader John Pesutto said the decision is a "massive
humiliation" for the state, and "hugely damaging" for its
reputation as a global events leader.
The chief
executive of Commonwealth Games Australia agreed, saying the cited cost blowout
was a "gross exaggeration" and that it would try to find another
Australian host for the 2026 games.
People from the
Victorian capital, Melbourne, have had a mixed reaction to the decision.
One woman,
Lauren Rogers, said she was disappointed with the decision as she thought the
games would bring more money into the state, and another, Kayley Martinez said
she thought "Victoria would be such a great host of the games."
But another man,
David, said he was "relieved" by the decision to not host them in
Victoria.
"They build
a lot of infrastructure that then doesn't get used later... I'm happy for the
government to be able to change its mind sometimes if something's blown out its
budget", he told the BBC.
Australia has
held the Commonwealth Games five times - including on the Gold Coast in 2018
and in the Victorian capital of Melbourne in 2006 - but all of the country's
states on Tuesday ruled out picking up the event.
New Zealand
authorities also say they will not take on the games.
Organisers have
had great difficulty finding viable tournament hosts in recent years.
The South
African city of Durban was originally set to stage the 2022 games, but were
stripped of hosting rights in 2017 after running into money troubles and
missing key deadlines. Birmingham agreed to host nine months later.
CGF had
originally hoped to name a host for the 2026 games in 2019, but several hopeful
bidders withdrew from the process due to cost concerns, leaving it unable to
lock in Victoria as the hosts until 2022.
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