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Posted: 2024-09-17 13:45:55

The 2026 Commonwealth Games that Victoria pulled out of appear set to be held in Glasgow, after the Scottish government confirmed its support for hosting the event.

In July 2023, the then-Andrews government announced the games, which had been due to highlight several regional centres in Victoria, would be scrapped due to cost blowouts.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Health Secretary Neil Gray described Scotland's financial resources as "limited".

On Saturday, Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) President Ben Houston announced the organisation had committed to "a multi-million pound investment that will support making Glasgow 2026 a reality".

On Tuesday, it was revealed CGA would pay £2.3 million ($4.5 million) towards Glasgow's games.

It's understood that under the proposal, no public funding is required from the Scottish Government to host the games, which will be scaled-down and feature less events.

The proposal still needs to be put to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which is the international organisation responsible for the event.

Glasgow last hosted the games in 2014.

Mr Gray said the Scottish government had conducted a "thorough assessment" on the proposal.

"That assessment has been conducted alongside Commonwealth Games Scotland, the Commonwealth Games Federation, Glasgow City Council, the UK Government and, most recently, Commonwealth Games Australia," his statement read.

In March, the Victorian Auditor-General's Office announced the state government's decision to pull out of the 2026 event had cost it $589 million.

Of that, it said $380 million had been a "settlement payment" made with several organisations, including CGA

On Saturday, Mr Houston said giving some of that money to the Glasgow bid was a good idea.

"Commonwealth Games Australia welcomes the enthusiasm for the Games by the Scottish and UK Governments, and we want to do all that we can to make Glasgow 2026 a reality," he said.

"We appreciate that the model is different and that that creates perceived financial and reputational challenges, but we have every confidence in the model proposed by Commonwealth Games Scotland.

"As one of the beneficiaries of the settlement with the Victorian Government, we today commit a multi-million pound investment into the Games to be further negotiated with Commonwealth Games Scotland and the Scottish Government."

In a statement, the CGF President Chris Jenkins said the organisation had been working with stakeholders in Scotland for months and that "the additional generous contribution of around £2.3 million from Commonwealth Games Australia to the Glasgow concept" would "further enhance" the games.

But the Andrews government's decision to walk away from its commitment to host the event sparked conversations about whether the Commonwealth Games, which were first held in 1930, would survive.

Melbourne has often been described as the "sporting capital of the world", and the state government's backflip initially surprised.

To justify the decision, then-premier Daniel Andrews warned cost estimates had blown out from around $2.6 billion to almost $7 billion.

But the auditor-general's report rubbished that suggestion, describing the updated figure as "overstated and not transparent".

The Gold Coast had been touted as a possible alternative location, but that idea failed to gain support from either the state or federal governments.

Retired swimmer Dan Wallace, who represented Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where he won three medals, told the ABC it was "tough to see Australia pull out".

"I know how good of a job they can do hosting international competitions," he said.

"I've been at quite a few myself, so that was very sad to see initially, but I'm just really happy that there's been able to be a resolution to this and that we have figured out Plan B, which in my opinion is better than Plan A."

Wallace said he wants to see the games continue into the future.

"I think that we would be a big gap in the sporting world if the Commonwealth Games didn't continue to go on," he said.

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