Commonwealth Games Could Be Delayed by a Year to 2027

Commonwealth Games Australia CEO Craig Phillips speaks to media during a press conference in Melbourne, Australia, on July 18, 2023. AAP Image/James Ross

The Commonwealth Games could be pushed back by a year to 2027 to provide enough time to find another Australian host after Victoria cancelled hosting the 2026 event.

The Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) CEO Craig Phillips said the Games organisers are working on a solution for the event during a Senate inquiry after the Victorian Labor government announced that it would withdraw as host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games on July 18.

Premier Daniel Andrews’s decision to cancel the 2026 Games cited concerns over a cost blowout that sparked criticisms from political parties, the public, and the sporting community across the country.

Mr. Phillips said the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF)—the international organisation that is responsible for the direction and control of the Games—was open to open to delaying the Games until 2027 to give potential hosts more time to prepare.

“The CGF have already indicated ... that they are open to the Games moving into 2027 to give any potential host more time, and that’s certainly something we’re looking at in terms of any state or any host city that we do talk to,” Mr. Phillips told a parliamentary inquiry, reported Reuters.

Although no Australian state governments have expressed interest in hosting the Games after Victoria withdrew, Mr. Phillips said all mainland capital cities in Australia have the capability to host the games.

“It may be a scaled back version of the Games, given the time we have, but if you look around the capital cities around Australia ... all have the capability of hosting,” Mr. Phillips said, reported AAP.

Australia has hosted five of the previous 22 Commonwealth Games and is one of the most successful competing nations.

“We need to make sure that the Games match the host, and not the other way round,” Mr. Phillips told the committee in Canberra on Sept. 8.

“So it'll be a tailored solution.

“From our perspective, we need a Games for our athletes, so whatever the final solution is, from our perspective, will be satisfactory.”

Mr. Phillips said they hope to have a solution by November, in time for when the CGF general assembly will meet in Singapore.

Following Victoria’s withdrawal from the 2026 Commonwealth Games, Canada’s Alberta province also withdrew its support for a bid to host the 2030 event on Aug. 3, citing the high cost of being a big factor as to why it withdrew.

Cost of Cancelling Commonwealth Games

After the Victorian government pulled out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games in July due to cost blowouts, Victoria was penalised $380 million (US$242 million).

Victoria agreed it would pay the Commonwealth Games bodies—the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Commonwealth Games Federation Partnerships (CGFP), and Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA)—$380 million in compensation.

The Andrew’s government claims the cost of Victoria’s model had increased from $2.6 billion (US$1.7 billion) to up to $7 billion (US$4.5 billion).

Neil Fergus, an adviser to the CGF said on Sept. 8 during the inquiry that Victoria pursued some “very odd” choices in infrastructure in regional areas for the 2026 Commonwealth Games before it cancelled hosting the event.

Mr. Fergus said that money was being put into an expensive but temporary velodrome for women’s cycling in Bendigo, and hosting women’s cricket in Gippsland was odd as it was one of the most popular competitions at the games in Birmingham.

“The notion of putting in a temporary [pool] and ripping it up in Armstrong Creek, to me, was somewhat inexplicable,” Mr. Fergus said, reported The Age.

“When I raised questions about some of the venues, we were told, ‘Well, it’s coming from the Victorian government.’

“I was impressed with the intellect of the people [on the organising committee]. There were some really competent people, but it was also fairly evident that there wasn’t a lot of events experience.”

An Australian Solution

The state government is continuing with the $2 billion (US$1.3 billion) worth of legacy infrastructure, including an aquatic centre in Armstrong Creek located in Geelong’s south that would have hosted swimmers, para swimmers, and divers during the Games.

“Decisions around the mix of sports and proposed locations for events during the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games were made in partnership with Commonwealth Games Australia and the Commonwealth Games Federation, with focus on the lasting legacy for regional Victoria,” a state government spokeswoman said.

Opposition minister for sport Anne Ruston noted that there is a lack of urgency by the organising committee in not meeting with any federal ministers or the premiers of Queensland and Western Australia.

Senator Ruston also said there was a lack of support from the Commonwealth despite Australia suffering as a whole from consequences of the Victoria government’s decision to cancel hosting the Games.

“It’s not a Victorian problem, there’s no distinction,” Mr. Phillips said.

“People see this as Australia finding a solution.”

The Senate inquiry was originally set up to assess Australia’s preparedness to host the Commonwealth Games as well as the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics, however, submissions have reopened after Andrews government cancelling the event.

Mr. Phillips said he was unable to say if the deal to terminate the contract included an agreement not to disapprove of the Andrews government, but said other countries were relying on Australia to find a new host city for the Games.

“We talked to our colleagues in the Pacific, we talked to our colleagues in the UK, and they will tell us the same thing: ‘Good luck finding a host because we want to come to Australia, we want you to find a host,’” Mr. Phillips said.

“It’s clear that our colleagues from around the Commonwealth expect an Australian solution.”