Australia’s Victoria state has withdrawn as host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games because of a blowout in projected costs.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday said his government last year agreed to host the next edition of the multi-sports event, “but not at any cost.”
“Today is not about finding fault with those cost estimates,” he said, declining to outline the reasons for the cost blowouts. “Frankly, AU$6-AU$7 billion for a 12-day sporting event, we are not doing that — that does not represent value for money, that is all costs and no benefit."The CGF said the estimated cost escalation was mainly due to the regional, multi-city host model and the Victoria government's decision to change plans for venues and include more sports.
The state government had promoted the multi-city model as a game changer, with the five regional centers hosting 20 sports and nine fully-integrated Para sports. “The stated costs overrun, in our opinion, are a gross exaggeration and not reflective of the operational costs presented to the Victoria 2026 organising committee board as recently as June," Phillips said in a statement. "Beyond this, the Victorian Government willfully ignored recommendations to move events to purpose-built in Melbourne and in fact remained wedded to proceeding with expensive temporary venues in regional Victoria.
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