DAVID ISAACSON | What if the Commonwealth Games were abandoned?

Is this the end of the Commonwealth Games?

The state of Victoria has decided to chuck up the 2026 showpiece — 17 years after its own Melbourne 2006 spectacle and five years after the last event in Australia, Gold Coast 2018 — making it two in a row after Durban’s capitulation.

The difference is that the Durban debacle unravelled more than four years ahead of 2022, and Birmingham was able to step into the breach.

But a tad more than two-and-a-half years is going to be a tight squeeze, unless a past host is able to pick up the baton painlessly.

The decision by the Victoria government, which suddenly decided its growing debt was a problem and that it wouldn’t be able to afford the rising costs, came as a surprise to everyone, even the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).

“The numbers quoted to us today of A$6bn (R73bn) are 50% more than those advised to the organising committee board at its meeting in June,” the CGF said in a statement, published on insidethegames.biz 

“These figures are attributed to price escalation primarily due to the unique regional delivery model that Victoria chose for these Games.”

The showpiece was to be spread out across five centres.

“Up until this point the government had advised that sufficient funding was available to deliver the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games.”

Victoria premier Dan Andrews feared costs could swell to more than A$7bn (R85bn), way over the initial A$2.6bn (R31.6bn) budget.

Commonwealth Games Australia said the cost increase cited by the Victoria government was a “gross exaggeration”. 

Whether this spells the end of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, or even the Games as a whole, remains to be seen.

There has been interest from a couple of Canadian cities and India to stage the centenary edition in 2030, but finding hosts has become increasingly difficult.

Football’s World Cup also started in 1930, but as a sporting brand it has far outgrown the Commonwealth Games. The two are not comparable.

Still, the Commonwealth Games has been useful for many sporting codes, plugging a gap in the one year where there are no swimming and athletics world championships, nor an Olympics; it was a good filler in a four-year Olympic cycle.

The Commonwealth Games have come under increasing pressure, with its relevance being questioned, especially in track and field, which with few exceptions has struggled to pull the big names. Many world stars opted to skip recent editions.

If the Games were to disappear, the top athletes would still have a Diamond League and other meets to keep them busy during the season.

One fact I’ve raised before is that every single South African Olympic swimming medallist, except for members of the women’s relay team that won bronze in 1928, competed at the preceding Commonwealth Games.

It’s been a stepping stone for those swimmers, offering them a glimpse of the Olympics. The Commonwealth Games is obviously much smaller, but it’s a still a significant occasion for younger competitors.

It’s a big one for the rugby sevens sides, the triathletes and netballers too.

And it’s one arena where our boxers win international medals, as do many other of the smaller sporting codes, from wrestling and cycling to lawn bowls and gymnastics. Judo, shooting, weightlifting and para-sport have also cashed this millennium.

If Victoria has sounded the death knell, the demise of the Games is going to affect different athletes differently.

The swimmers will have a gap on their calendars, but maybe they can fill it by switching to the Pan Pacific championships instead. That’s a top gala too.

But those in the smaller, lesser-funded sports are probably not going to see the vacuum filled, while the top athletes, as I’ve said, will barely notice anything is amiss.

It’ll be sport’s version of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

And that will be sad.