Commonwealth Games: Plan to employ multiple host cities in order to save the ‘Friendly Games’
Under a new plan, the whole of Australia could host an upcoming Commonwealth Games, but will - and should - Victoria play a part after sensationally cancelling the 2026 games? Have your say.
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Australia’s feuding states could soon be asked to put their longstanding rivalry to one side and team up to bring the reborn Commonwealth Games back Down Under, thanks to a radical new plan to safeguard the multi-sports event after Victoria almost killed it off.
On the verge of being read the last rites after the Dan Andrews government reneged on its promise to host the 2026 edition, the ‘Friendly Games’ have been given a second life after the Scots stepped in and agreed to run a scaled-down version in Glasgow.
Reinvigorated by the overwhelming relief at saving one of the few historic sports events that has resisted the temptation to sell out to commercialisation, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is planning to adopt a similar format used by FIFA – soccer’s world governing body – by awarding future Games to multiple cities and even multiple countries.
“We’ve changed the Games so it’s much more affordable, much more attractive,” CGF president Chris Jenkins told the BBC.
“We’re not the Olympics. We are not going to be the Olympics.
“We’ve reset and reframed the Games to exactly the sweet spot of where we should be.”
On Thursday, a senior Victorian minister would not comment on whether Victoria would participate in another future Commonwealth Games event.
“That is a matter for the Commonwealth Games Federation, but here in Victoria, we’re already proud to host many, many major events,” Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said.
“We’ve just come off one of the best Boxing Day Test series ever, and of course, there’s so much more ahead… Our major events crown is well and truly here to stay.”
When asked about whether the failed Commonwealth Games 2026 in Victoria was a blip on the state’s major events record, she said: “The issue about Commonwealth Games, which we’ve been over many, times was that the money that was required to deliver games was not going to be returned to Victorians”.
Member countries, including Australia, will receive the fine print details about how the new model will work in early 2025, but have already been made aware there will be a greater emphasis on cost-cutting and flexibility.
Having struggled to secure single-city hosts because of the enormous costs involved in hosting multiple sports, the CGF now wants potential bidders to co-host with other cities or countries who already have existing facilities.
That’s perfect for Australia, which already has world class venues spread all over the country, with more to come as Brisbane prepares to host the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics.
While no formal discussions have taken place yet with any state governments, Commonwealth Games Australia CEO Craig Phillips said he supported the new hosting framework.
“You’ve got to keep reviewing what you’re doing and refining it and making it attractive for potential hosts,” Phillips said.
“And one way of doing that is just spreading the load and also spreading the benefit across multiple host locations.
“All of it is available for us now which is exciting because it gives us a lot more scope for more nations to be involved in hosting the Games.”
Phillips said it was too early to predict whether Australia would throw its hat in the ring for either 2030 or 2034, or wait longer to avoid overlapping with Brisbane.
But the one certain outcome is that any future Games will be bigger not smaller.
In saving the 2026 Games, the Scots made the agonising decision to cut almost half the sports from the existing program – including the marathon, road cycling, mountain biking, diving, hockey, cricket, rugby sevens and triathlon.
They settled on just 10 sports but with the benefit of multiple co-hosts, the future program would return to around the same size as it was before.
“We’ve kept the non-program sports (for Glasgow) in the family and they’re all keen to come back,” Phillips said.
“As Chris (Jenkins) signalled, we don’t expect the Games to stay at 10, it’ll come back up again. Probably 15, 16, 17 is about the right number so there’s certainly that scope for either sports to return or new sports to come in.”
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