The Australian state of Victoria has informed the federation that organizes the Commonwealth Games, a major sporting event held every four years and which includes the Commonwealth states, that it will not host the edition scheduled for 2026 because it does not intend to spend the 7 billion of dollars – 6.2 billion euros – planned «for a 12-day sporting event».
Initially, when the state government agreed to host the games, the projected cost was $2.6 billion; then the expenditure estimates had increased to 6 billion, and more probably 7.
The federation complained it was only advised of Victoria’s intentions eight hours before the release, and said estimated costs had also risen because Australia’s local government had decided to build a new “regional sports hub” in sight. of the games and to include new sports in the 2026 edition. “We are disappointed that the possibility of discussing the situation to find solutions together has not been considered,” the federation said in a statement. In the state of Victoria all contests of the games were to be held. It is not yet known what will happen now, if the games will be held, and where.
