Premier Daniel Andrews has damaged Victoria’s reputation as a destination for global events, and raised questions about his judgment with his shock decision to abandon the 2026 Commonwealth Games, sports administrators and business leaders said.

Mr Andrews said cancelling the Games was “not a difficult decision” because the expected cost of the 12-day event that his government had planned to host in regional hubs, including Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Shepparton, had blown out from the $2.6 billion originally budgeted for, to $7 billion or more.