Commonwealth Games 2026 Slimmed Down!
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
The costs of organising and staging major international sporting events are continually rising and making it impossible, in some cases, to bid for them, or, having bid for them, leading to withdrawal of bids.
This has been the situation in the case of the 2026 edition of the Commonwealth Games. The Australian State of Victoria withdrew from hosting the Games because of rising costs.
The City of Glasgow in Scotland has stepped into the breach and will host them from 23 July – 2 August 2026, but in a slimmed down version.
Glasgow last hosted the Games in 2014 at a cost of some £540 million (around €647.7 million) and the 2026 Games are expected to cost around £114 million (€136.7 million).
To save costs, there will only be 10 sports in the 2026 Games instead of the 17 sports featured in the 2014 Games.
Amongst the sports dropped are hockey and rugby sevens and there will be no racquet sports.
Certain disciplines of other sports have also been dropped. For example, there will be no diving competitions in swimming, no mountain and road races in cycling and no rhythmic events in gymnastics.
However, it is expected that a total of some 3,000 athletes from 74 Commonwealth Nations and Territories will compete in the Games.
Perhaps putting a brave face on things, the Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Katie Sadleir, has remarked:
“The Games promise to be a truly immersive festival of sport and celebration of culture and diversity that inspires athletes and sports – with a fan experience more accessible than ever before.”
The slimmed down 2026 Commonwealth Games raise the question of whether there are too many major international sporting events competing for the limited financial resources that may be available in these economically challenging times globally!
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
