Fresh blow for Commonwealth Games after Malaysia declines host offer
There’s been a new setback for the Commonwealth Games after a second country declined an offer to host the 2026 event, citing cost concerns.
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The future of the 2026 Commonwealth Games looks in doubt after Malaysia rejected an offer to host, citing “cost”.
The country was asked to step in after Victoria dumped plans to host a multi-city regional version of the Games last year, with then-Premier Daniel Andrews claiming it would cost the state almost $7 billion.
Malaysia had been offered a funding deal worth almost $200 million by the Commonwealth Games Federation to run the multi-sport event, after previously hosting in 1998.
But on Friday, Malaysia’s Communications Minister, Fahmi Fadzil, said the country could not host the event within the two-year timeframe.
“When we assessed the viability of hosting the Games, the length of time needed and the cost was seen to be particularly prohibitive,” he said.
The news comes as Victoria’s Auditor-General published a report this week, finding the former premier’s $7 billion figure was “overstated”.
“The cost estimate for the Games that the government publicly released in August 2023 of $6.9 billion was overstated and not transparent,” Auditor-General Andrew Greaves said.
“It added significant amounts for industrial relations and cost escalation risks. But it did not disclose that the budget already included $1 billion in contingency allowances to cover these and other cost risks.”
Continuing to host the event would likely have cost Victorian taxpayers about $4.9 billion, he found.
The Commonwealth Games, typically contested by about 70 countries and territories of the former British empire, have struggled to find hosts in recent years.
They were last held in Birmingham in 2022 after Durban, South Africa was stripped of the hosting role after failing to meet key obligations.
Originally published as Fresh blow for Commonwealth Games after Malaysia declines host offer
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