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2026 Commonwealth Games: Where?


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9 minutes ago, Victorian said:

 

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Victoria set to bid for 2026 Commonwealth Games

Shannon Deery and Matt Johnston
 

Victoria’s leading figures say hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2026 would be a huge boon for the state post Covid. Now the government has moved a step closer.

Victoria

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Victoria looks set to launch a formal bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Sources close to the working group considering the bid told the Saturday Herald Sun they expect it to be approved as early as next week.

The state government has been considering an approach by the Commonwealth Games Federation, which is searching for a host city for the event.

“They’ve made up their minds, they just haven’t formalised the paperwork,” one senior source said.

“But it looks like Victoria will bid.”

The government has been analysing how the event could tap into regional centres and what impact it would have on the economy.

It is understood a final economic analysis is being conducted before approving submission of a bid.

A KPMG analysis of Melbourne’s 2006 Commonwealth Games found the event prompted an increase in Gross State Product of about $1.6bn over a 20-year period and employment of about 13,600 jobs.

The event’s total bill was $2.9bn.

A 2030 Commonwealth Games taskforce established four years ago has backed their plan being brought forward.

A pre-feasibility study, funded jointly by the state government and regional councils, was completed prior to Covid at the start of 2020 and was due to be presented to the ­government.

Business and community leaders, including Lord Mayor Sally Capp, have thrown her support behind the bid.

Victoria Tourism Industry Council chief Felicia Mariani said the Games would be a boon for Victoria.

“Melbourne hosting another Commonwealth Games in 2026 is just what the city needs right now to rebuild our confidence and announce to the world that Melbourne is back,” she said.

“While we need to ensure the numbers stack up, there’s no other destination in the country with the incredible sporting infrastructure already in place like Melbourne has.

“The fact that on Thursday we hosted an Asian Cup Qualifier literally across the road from the only grand slam tennis tournament in the Southern Hemisphere is testament to our pedigree in this area.

“The Victorian government has also made significant investment in recent years to upgrade the quality of our regional sporting facilities, which means the benefits of hosting these Comm Games would stretch to our key regional centres as well.”

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief Paul Guerra also backed a Commonwealth Games bid.

“For Melbourne – and largely, Victoria – to land a global event with the prestige and excitement that the Commonwealth Games brings would be sensational for all facets of our local business, tourism and infrastructure,” he said.

“The economic impact would be positively felt across the state, with regional participation being heavily considered, and I know Melburnians would love the opportunity to host and attend in our own backyard.

“Opportunities like this give us the platform to showcase our fantastic state to the rest of the globe, and also demonstrates our capabilities to continue hosting other major events.”

Melbourne last hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2006 in an event which has been dubbed the “best Commonwealth Games ever”.

It saw Australians win a record haul of 221 medals, including 84 gold.

More than 7000 athletes and officials from 71 nations took part in the games, a smorgasbord of sporting events not seen in Melbourne since the 1956 Olympics.

Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, then prime minister John Howard and premier Steve Bracks headed the list of dignitaries at the MCG and an estimated worldwide TV audience of 1.5 billion watched as the flying tram descended to a stage at the centre of the ground.

 

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No doubt it'll be in March again (or thereabouts) so only just over 4 years away. Exciting.

Despite living near the Gold Coast I wasn't able to attending anything because I was too sick for the whole uration (have a pretty serious chronic illness) so hopefully I'll be healthier during 2026.

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36 minutes ago, ulu said:

No doubt it'll be in March again (or thereabouts) so only just over 4 years away. Exciting.

Despite living near the Gold Coast I wasn't able to attending anything because I was too sick for the whole uration (have a pretty serious chronic illness) so hopefully I'll be healthier during 2026.

or 2034 after the uk has hosted 2030, will be back in Aus no doubt :P

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1 hour ago, ulu said:

No doubt it'll be in March again (or thereabouts) so only just over 4 years away. Exciting.

Despite living near the Gold Coast I wasn't able to attending anything because I was too sick for the whole uration (have a pretty serious chronic illness) so hopefully I'll be healthier during 2026.

It has been disgusted in this thread that it might not be in March and may instead be held later in the year to buy the Victorian government valuable preparation year?

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2 hours ago, Scotguy II said:

or 2034 after the uk has hosted 2030, will be back in Aus no doubt :P

I actually don't think so.

2030 will go to Canada

2034 won't be Australia's because it is too close to the 2032 Olympics. 2034 could be the UK but I am confident we might see the games maybe in Asia? The new games format will lend itself towards cities having more flexibility and will help to get more cities to bid. 

1990: Oceania

1994: North America

1998: Asia

2002: Europe

2006: Oceania

2010: Asia

2014: Europe

2018: Oceania

2022: Europe

2026: Oceania

2030: North America

2030: Asia and Africa would be well overdue to host.

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13 hours ago, Victorian said:

I actually don't think so.

2030 will go to Canada

2034 won't be Australia's because it is too close to the 2032 Olympics. 2034 could be the UK but I am confident we might see the games maybe in Asia? The new games format will lend itself towards cities having more flexibility and will help to get more cities to bid. 

1990: Oceania

1994: North America

1998: Asia

2002: Europe

2006: Oceania

2010: Asia

2014: Europe

2018: Oceania

2022: Europe

2026: Oceania

2030: North America

2030: Asia and Africa would be well overdue to host.

Does anyone outside of the UK or Australia even want to host?Canada is a one off for 2030. In addition, it sounds like the CWF more or less came begging to Melbourne for a bid despite repeated press releases talking about how many interested candidates there were for 2026 yet they declined to name them probably because they didn't have anybody. At this point why not just rename them the British-Australian Games?

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The test will be, for the CWGs and the Commonwealth itself, when Elizabeth passes. I expect it’ll be the circuit-breaker to restart Republic discussions in many members, not just Australia. Which in turn will even further dilute the relevance of the games.

Victoria’s state-wide plan, plus the existing watering down of requirements for the games are a bit of a two-edge sword IMO. Yes, they may make the games easier for more to stage, but at the cost identity or spectator interest in the event. I used to be a believer in the Commies, but I have strong doubts about their future now.

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On 2/1/2022 at 10:09 AM, stryker said:

Does anyone outside of the UK or Australia even want to host?Canada is a one off for 2030. In addition, it sounds like the CWF more or less came begging to Melbourne for a bid despite repeated press releases talking about how many interested candidates there were for 2026 yet they declined to name them probably because they didn't have anybody. At this point why not just rename them the British-Australian Games?

I find it staggering how they seem so ambivalent. These Games have been in trouble for a long time now - the cracks started showing in the 90s when there were only single candidates. Lucky for them they managed to attract some big ticket cities that offered Olympic-like facilities and editions (Kuala Lumpur, Manchester, Melbourne, Delhi). 

There is no lack of great cities in the Commonwealth to stage these games - there is a lack of the CGF meeting potential hosts in the middle to tailor the event to them. By now we should have had multiple African hosts, more Asian / Canadian hosts and more interest from smaller states in Caribbean/Mediterranean locations.  

They face the same issues as the IOC - just scaled down. Surely when they saw the IOC clutch at straws to find hosts for the WOGs and SOGs they should have seen trouble for their own event?

 As a Melburnian I'm not really that thrilled at the idea of 2026. There is certainly a vibe here of "been there, done that". 2006 was fantastic, but the city has kind of moved on. That said I know we will do it well.

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1 minute ago, Australian Kiwi said:

I find it staggering how they seem so ambivalent. These Games have been in trouble for a long time now - the cracks started showing in the 90s when there were only single candidates. Lucky for them they managed to attract some big ticket cities that offered Olympic-like facilities and editions (Kuala Lumpur, Manchester, Melbourne, Delhi). 

There is no lack of great cities in the Commonwealth to stage these games - there is a lack of the CGF meeting potential hosts in the middle to tailor the event to them. By now we should have had multiple African hosts, more Asian / Canadian hosts and more interest from smaller states in Caribbean/Mediterranean locations.  

They face the same issues as the IOC - just scaled down. Surely when they saw the IOC clutch at straws to find hosts for the WOGs and SOGs they should have seen trouble for their own event?

 As a Melburnian I'm not really that thrilled at the idea of 2026. There is certainly a vibe here of "been there, done that". 2006 was fantastic, but the city has kind of moved on. That said I know we will do it well.

What about the Melburnians too young to remember 2006 like me? I would love the games to take place in my home city for me to be part of

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On 1/31/2022 at 8:37 PM, Victorian said:

 

2034 won't be Australia's because it is too close to the 2032 Olympics. 2034 could be the UK but I am confident we might see the games maybe in Asia? The new games format will lend itself towards cities having more flexibility and will help to get more cities to bid. 

 

Singapore is notably absent. They have stunning venues and I would have thought rivalry with Malaysia would have seen them host already. 

Durban doing a Denver on the 2022 event really has had a lasting impact. Hosting in Africa before the Olympics would have been a great boon for the Commies.

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Just now, Australian Kiwi said:

Singapore is notably absent. They have stunning venues and I would have thought rivalry with Malaysia would have seen them host already. 

Durban doing a Denver on the 2022 event really has had a lasting impact. Hosting in Africa before the Olympics would have been a great boon for the Commies.

Singapore would be an amazing Commonwealth Games and they have the facilities too

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1 minute ago, Victorian said:

What about the Melburnians too young to remember 2006 like me? I would love the games to take place in my home city for me to be part of

You will enjoy it then - however it does not seem like the 2006 plan will be used (which more or less took Melbourne's 1996 Olympic Games framework and modified for Commonwealth Games). 2026 will be very dispersed across the regional cities. 

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6 minutes ago, Chris_Mex said:

Also didn't Sri Lanka bid for the games a couple of years ago?, would that work?

Yes - but they foolishly put up a small Chinese-funded port city in the south that barely even existed (and still doesn't). 

Had they proposed Colombo with a good plan then they could have had 2018. 

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2 hours ago, Victorian said:

Singapore would be an amazing Commonwealth Games and they have the facilities too

I don't doubt that but the bigger issue, and one the CWF does not seem to have a grasp on is, what benefit does hosting bring?

2 hours ago, Australian Kiwi said:

Yes - but they foolishly put up a small Chinese-funded port city in the south that barely even existed (and still doesn't). 

Had they proposed Colombo with a good plan then they could have had 2018. 

Sri Lanka financed Hambantota with loans from China and defaulted. The port city is actually now owned and occupied by China. Currently, Sri Lanka is practically broke, being in the midst of a huge debt crisis. They cannot hosting anything right now.

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