Malaysia may pocket $200m in Victorian taxpayer funds in new bid to host 2026 Comm Games

Almost $200m that Victorians forked out to dump the Commonwealth Games may soon be handed over to the Malaysian government if the country signs on to host the event.

Malaysia looks poised to swoop on the 2026 Commonwealth Games and almost $200 million in Victorian taxpayer cash being offered to replacement host nations.

Victoria was contracted to host a regional Commonwealth Games in 2026, but former premier Daniel Andrews tore up his own deal last year due to concerns about escalating costs, forking out $380m in compensation to the event’s global governing body in the process.

About £100m — or $194m AUD — of that will be gifted to a new host nation.

The Olympic Council of Malaysia has confirmed it is in “advanced” talks with the Commonwealth Games Federation about the opportunity, and has been invited to take the hosting duty.

It says in a statement that a reason it believes the Malaysian Government should back the event is that it has infrastructure from the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games and would benefit from Victorian cash now up for grabs, meaning “minimal” new spending.

Malaysia looks poised to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, pocketing almost $200m of Victorian taxpayer funds. Picture: supplied

“The Government of Malaysia should consider this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — and the associated support and financial investment — which will build on the success of Kuala Lumpur 1998 and put Malaysia back onto the world sporting map,” it says.
“The hosting will involve minimal Government spending and bring significant socio-economic benefits to the country.”

The CGF also released a statement, which says it is having “advanced, confidential discussions with potential hosts”.

“These discussions follow our announcement to members at our General Assembly last November that £100m of financial and strategic support would be made available from the Victoria withdrawal settlement,” it says.

“Malaysia has a fantastic track record of delivering sporting events and the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur were hugely successful.”

Former Premier Daniel Andrews dumped the Commonwealth Games last year after the cost of hosting exploded from $2.6bn to almost $7bn. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Last year, Mr Andrews said the cost of hosting the Games across five regional Victorian cities had exploded from $2.6bn to $6-7bn, which forced him to dump the event.

“This is not a difficult decision in many respects,” he said.

It is estimated $600m would have been wasted once sunk costs were added to the $380m compensation paid to tear up the event contract.

Commonwealth Games Australia has been trying to galvanise support for keeping the international spectacle in Australia, but is yet to get state or federal government backing.

Chief executive of the CGA, Craig Phillips, previously said that although a local event was preferable he understood the global governing body “has to come up with a solution that keeps the Games somewhere” and would support that process.

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