Wed, Jul 19, 2023 page7

• Host pulls out of Commonwealth Games

  ‘HUGELY DISAPPOINTING’: The Commonwealth Games Federation said that Victoria had added sports and venues that raised the costs against the advice of the federation

  • AFP, MELBOURNE
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  The Australian state of Victoria yesterday pulled out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games citing major cost blowouts, leaving organizers “hugely disappointed” as they scrambled to keep the multisport event afloat.

  Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said the initial estimate of A$2 billion (US$1.36 billion) needed to hold the Games would more likely be about A$7 billion, which he called “well and truly too much.”

  “I’ve made a lot of difficult calls, a lot of very difficult decisions in this job. This is not one of them. Frankly, A$7 billion for a sporting event, we are not doing that,” he told a news conference in Melbourne.

  

  Staff carry the Commonwealth Games Federation flag into the arena during the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Melbourne on March 15, 2006.

  Photo: AP

  “I will not take money out of hospitals and schools to host an event that is three times the cost estimated and budgeted for last year,” he said.

  “The Games will not proceed in Victoria in 2026. We have informed Commonwealth Games authorities of our decision to seek to terminate the contract,” he said.

  The event — featuring 20 sports and 26 disciplines — was due to be held across five regional hubs, including Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Gippsland and Shepparton, with each having its own athletes’ village.

  Andrews said his team had looked at cutting the number of hubs or even moving the Games to Victoria’s capital, Melbourne, but “none of those options stack up.”

  Instead, he announced a A$2 billion support package for regional Victoria.

  Andrews refused to say how much it would cost to terminate the agreement, but said that talks with the Commonwealth Games Federation were amicable.

  The London-based federation was not happy, calling the move as “hugely disappointing.”

  “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,” it said in a statement.

  Victoria was only awarded the contract 14 months ago as the exclusive bidder, with the federation saying that the state had since decided to include more sports, added an additional regional hub and changed plans for venues.

  These additional costs were “often against the advice of the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Australia,” it said, adding that it had received assurances that “sufficient funding was available to deliver the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games.”

  Commonwealth Games Australia president Ben Houston was equally scathing, saying that the new cost estimates were a “gross exaggeration.”

  “Beyond disappointing for us,” he told reporters. “It’s a comprehensive letdown for the athletes, the excited host communities.”

  The decision to pull the pin leaves the fate of the Games up in the air, with fewer countries showing interest in recent times to take on a spectacle seen as losing its relevance.

  The federation insisted it remained “committed to finding a solution for the Games in 2026 that is in the best interest of our athletes and the wider Commonwealth Sport Movement.”

  The event typically attracts more than 4,000 athletes from the 54 nations of the Commonwealth.

  Last year’s Games were in England after Birmingham stepped in late in the piece.

  The Victorian state opposition called Andrews’ decision a “massive humiliation” and “hugely damaging to Victoria’s reputation,” adding that it would hurt the state’s chances of being awarded big-ticket sporting events in the future.
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