Commonwealth Games: 2026 event in doubt after Victoria cancels

The 2026 Commonwealth Games are successful uncertainty aft the Australian authorities of Victoria cancelled its plans to big owed to fund blowouts.

Organisers had struggled to find a big metropolis earlier Victoria volunteered successful April 2022.

At the time, the tourney was billed arsenic a roar for the state's regions, which would big astir events.

But the premier said the projected outgo had present tripled and go "well and genuinely excessively much" for Victoria to bear.

"I've made a batch of hard calls, a batch of precise hard decisions successful this job. This is not 1 of them," Daniel Andrews told a property league connected Tuesday.

Mr Andrews said his authorities had informed Commonwealth Sport - who are yet to remark - of the determination to question to terminate the contract, adding that "amicable and productive" meetings had occurred successful London overnight.

He said Victoria had been approached by the governing assemblage past twelvemonth and had been "happy to assistance out" but "not astatine immoderate price".

Organisers had primitively estimated the lawsuit - hosted crossed cities including Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat - would outgo A$2.6 cardinal (£1.4bn; $1.8bn).

But present the 12-day tourney was expected to outgo much than A$6 billion, Mr Andrews said, adding that the caller fig was "more than doubly the estimated economical payment the games would bring" to Victoria.

"Frankly... we're not doing that... That is each outgo and nary benefit," helium said.

Victoria volition inactive implicit the stadium upgrades it had promised up of the games, portion utilizing the wealth it is present redeeming connected lodging and tourism initiatives.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto said the determination is simply a "massive humiliation" for the state.

"The cancellation of the Commonwealth Games is hugely damaging to Victoria's estimation arsenic a planetary events leader," helium said successful a statement.

Australia has hosted the Commonwealth Games six times - including connected the Gold Coast successful 2018 and successful the Victorian superior of Melbourne successful 2006.