Commonwealth Games: Malaysia may save the day

According to reporting by Channel News Asia, the 2026 Commonwealth Games may be going ahead after all following a late intervention from Malaysia.

Reports suggest the Southeast Asian nation has been offered £100 million towards the games to, "support the local delivery and legacy planning."

According to Mohamad Norza Zakaria the president of the Commonwealth Games Association of Malaysia, this is a, "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," following the previous host cities backing out during the planning phase.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

According to the Commonwealth Games Federation, it is not yet set in stone that Malaysia will be the host country in 2026, with advanced, "confidential discussions with potential hosts," were still ongoing.

Malaysia was the host country for the games in 1998, which Mohamad Norza Zakaria described as, "hugely successful." Beyond that, the country, Kuala Lumpur in particular, boasts, "world-class facilities," following the previous edition of the Games that was held there.

Hannah Yeoh, the Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister told reporters she will present a paper to the Cabinet which will lay out the plans for the games, including the benefits of hosting a major sporting event.

Cities are becoming wary of hosting the Commonwealth Games due to the vast costs involved. 2022 hosts, Birmingham spent £72 million on a brand new stadium for the games which has not hosted a single sporting event since, according to The Sun.

If Malaysia ends up hosting the games, it could save the future of the event following the backing out of multiple potential hosts in Australia and few candidates making themselves available as replacements. Let's take a look at how we ended up here.

The 2026 edition of the Commonwealth Games is in jeopardy after the latest host city, the Gold Coast, has pulled out of hosting.

The Gold Coast was already the backup plan for the games after Victoria had pulled out following escalating costs.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

The original plan was to host the games across the southern Australian state of Victoria, with events taking place in Geelong, Bendigo, and Ballarat alongside the great sports city of Melbourne.

Organisers in Victoria estimated the games were set to cost over A$6bn (£3.01bn), more than double the original budget.

According to the BBC, the Gold Coast was set to run a “streamlined” version of the games, costing A$700m (£361.5m)  but never received the backing of state or federal officials and is now off the table.

Currently, that leaves the games with no host for the 2026 or 2030 editions, leaving the future of the Commonwealth Games in limbo.

The Commonwealth Games is an athletics event similar to the Olympics but only features athletes from 70 countries or territories, mostly ex-members of the British Empire.

Want to see more like this? Follow us here for daily sports news, profiles and analysis!

These days, an athletics event based around a long-dead empire does not seem to garner the same level of interest as it once did. The last edition of the games saw many world-class athletes not compete as they chose to rest for more established competitions. This has made it a tough sell for host cities and could see the end of the Commonwealth Games in the near future.