Malaysia has refused to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games due to cost uncertainty and insufficient funding, the government said on Friday, a major setback for the quadrennial multi-sport event.
Malaysia was asked to step in, with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) providing £100 million in support after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew from hosting, citing inflated costs. The latest decision raises the possibility that the Olympics may not go ahead for the first time since they were canceled during World War II.
Officials said the funding provided was insufficient for Malaysia to commit to hosting the event on such a short notice and that there was no time to assess the potential economic impact. “If we had longer time, we would definitely do it, but because it is so short, we certainly can’t,” Fahmi Fadzil, government spokesman and communications minister, told a regular briefing. express. “When we assessed the feasibility of hosting the Games, we found the time and cost required to be particularly prohibitive.”
London-based CGF did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Malaysia’s rejection of its bid.
The Department of Youth and Sport says the £100m of funding it has provided is not enough to cover the cost of staging major sporting events. “Furthermore, the economic impact cannot be determined over such a short period of time,” it said in a statement.
The Olympic Games are usually attended by about 70 countries and regions from the former British Empire, and the medal tally in recent editions has been dominated by Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa. Victoria’s withdrawal has cast doubt on the future of the event and raised questions about whether the Olympics, with its colonial origins, are still relevant in the modern era and its place in an already packed global sports calendar.
The Olympics have struggled to find willing hosts in recent years, with five of the past six Olympics held in Australia or the United Kingdom. The British city of Birmingham, which was due to host in 2026, stepped in to save the 2022 event after South Africa was stripped of hosting rights due to a lack of progress in preparations. Birmingham’s move leaves the CGF scrambling to find another host city for 2026, leaving Victoria as the only viable candidate after several other cities withdrew from the bidding process over cost concerns.
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The proposal received a mixed response in Malaysia, where it was held in 1998, due to concerns about cost and lack of preparation time. The Malaysian Olympic Council this week proposed holding a scaled-down Olympics, with limits on athlete accommodation expenses and smaller opening and closing ceremonies.
