Commonwealth Games could be delayed until 2027

2026 Commonwealth Games could be delayed by a year to help Australia find a state willing to host it, it was claimed.

Organisers are busy working on a “final solution” for the event, Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) chief executive Craig Phillips told a Senate inquiry in Canberra into the controversial decision by the Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews to cancel hosting the event.

Phillips revealed to the inquiry chaired by Queensland Senator Matt Canavan that the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) was open to delaying the Games until 2027 to give any potential host more time to prepare.

Options being considered, Phillips claimed, was a scaled-back version of the Games or sharing them with another country, like New Zealand.

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Andrews had announced in July that Victoria had withdrawn as hosts after claiming that estimated costs had risen to AUD$7 billion (£3.6 billion/$4.5 billion/€4.2 billion).

Last month, it was agreed the state would pay organisers AUD$380 million (£195 million/$243 million/€227 million) in compensation.

Since Victoria withdrew, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has indicated they could be willing to step in having hosted a successful Games in 2018 and that the event would be an ideal warm-up for the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics being staged in Queensland.

Perth’s Basil Zempilas had also expressed an interest in taking over but Western Australia Premier Roger Cook has announced he would not support the plan.

We need to make sure that the Games match the host, and not the other way round,” Phillips told the inquiry in Australia’s capital.

“So, it’ll be a tailored solution.

“From our perspective, we need a Games for our athletes, so whatever the final solution is, from our perspective, will be satisfactory.”

Phillips hopes to have a solution in place by November, when the CGF General Assembly is due to meet in Singapore.

A CGF spokesperson told insidethegames: “Our continued focus is on finding a solution for the next edition of the Commonwealth Games that is in the best interests of athletes and the wider Commonwealth Sport Movement.

“We have been inspired by the interest and support from around the world and are in conversations with a number of Commonwealth Games Associations about a range of possible solutions.”

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But Liberal Senator Anne Ruston, the opposition spokeswoman for sport, hit out at the CGA and accused them of lack of urgency after it emerged that they had yet to hold any talks with Federal Ministers.

“I’d really like to know when you’re going to get that fire in your belly and start getting out there,” she said.

“I’m not feeling it from you that there’s a great deal of urgency or enthusiasm from you about getting this thing rolling.”

Phillips defended the work they had done so far and claimed that they need to provide some clarity on how much money hosting the Games would cost following the figures claimed by Andrews, which most experts have struggled to find justification for.

“Without belabouring the point, we’re not rushing to a ‘no’,” he told the inquiry.

“We do have to make sure we’re ready.

“Right now, in the marketplace there’s a price tag of AUD$6 billion (£3.1 billion/$3.8 billion/€3.6 billion) to AUD$7 billion dollars – we have to take the time to actually dismantle that.”

Phillips claimed that if Australia was to find an alternative host for the Commonwealth Games, then they would expect the Federal Government to make some financial contribution in line with the help they gave Melbourne in 2006 and Gold Coast in 2018.

“We know that in previous Games the Government has made a commitment to the cost of the Games,” he said.

“The Gold Coast Games [received around] AUD$160 million (£82 million/$102 million/€96 million).

“As a precedent of the Gold Coast and Melbourne, we would expect that’s the sort of quantum of support in terms of staging the Games.

“We think also the assistance of the Federal Government in working with State Governments to get potential hosts would be critically important for us.”

Phillips told the inquiry that, despite being let down by Victoria, the CGF would be happy to relocate the Games to another state.

“Australia is recognised as a safe pair of hands for the Games,” he said.