Commonwealth Games 2026: Rugby, cricket and hockey axed from trimmed down Glasgow event

The trimmed-down Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will feature just 10 sports – with almost half the sports featured two years ago axed in budget cuts. Every sport’s status revealed inside.

Rugby Sevens, Cricket, diving and Squash are among the popular sports axed from the Commonwealth Games, but netball, lawn bowls and boxing has survived as organisers prepare to unveil the 10 sports in a reduced program for Glasgow 2026.

Code Sports revealed over the weekend that hockey, road cycling, mountain biking, triathlon and marathon running were among the sports set to be culled from the rebooted Games with the competition set to be contained to a few venues around the city.

It can be confirmed the 10 sports set to be included in Glasgow 2026 are:

– Swimming and para swimming

– Athletics and para athletics

– Cycling track and para track

– 3x3 Basketball and wheelchair basketball

– Netball

– Boxing

– Gymnastics

– Judo

– Lawn Bowls and para lawn bowls

– Weightlifting and Para powerlifting

Australia’s men are the defending Commonwealth Games hockey champions. Picture: Getty

The Games will take place over 11 days from July 23-August 2, 2026, at just four multipurpose venues – the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, the Scotstoun Stadium, Tollcross International Swimming Centre and the Scottish Events Campus.

Only 10 sports made the cut for Glasgow, which stepped in to save the ‘friendly games’ in the wake of the Victorian Government’s decision not to proceed as hosts.

This is almost half the number (19) that were on the program for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

Swimming and athletics were the only sports that were given guarantees for Glasgow.

It is a shock Rugby Sevens was axed from the program – particularly given Scotland’s strong interest in rugby union and the strong commercial benefits a sold out stadium across three days of action would bring to organisers.

The inclusion of netball is a significant win for the sport, given the importance the Commonwealth Games plays as a major event in the sport’s international schedule.

Originally published as Commonwealth Games 2026: Rugby, cricket and hockey axed from trimmed down Glasgow event