The future of the Commonwealth Games is under question

The Gold Coast hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games but has become the second Australian city to pull out of the 2026 edition. The future of the Commonwealth Games is in doubt after Gold Coast withdrew its bid for the next edition of the event.

The Gold Coast, which hosted the Games in 2018, withdrew after the state of Victoria decided they could not host due to cost increases from 1.4 billion GBP to 3.7 billion GBP.

To keep the 2026 edition in Australia, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate insisted they could do it again, but only if the federal government helped cover the costs. However, both the federal and state governments have already withdrawn support for the event.

“We did our best and that’s all people can expect”, said Tom Tate in a statement on December 3. “Simply put, it appears that the vision of our Games is not aligned with the vision of the state or federal governments”, added he.

What will be the future of the Commonwealth Games in 2026 and the editions beyond will wait to see.