Leanest Commonwealth Games In 32 Years: CWG 2026 To Feature Just 10 Sports
Leanest Commonwealth Games In 32 Years: CWG 2026 To Feature Just 10 Sports Published By, Last Updated: July 21, 2026, 10:39 IST Commonwealth Games 2026
Leanest Commonwealth Games In 32 Years: CWG 2026 To Feature Just 10 Sports Published By, Last Updated: July 21, 2026, 10:39 IST Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow will feature only 10 sports, a significant reduction from Victoria's original 21, because of cost concerns. Rapid Read A banner that read "Thank you Glasgow" is waved during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Hampden Park in Glasgow (Picture credit: AFP) The 23rd edition of the Commonwealth Games is all set to start in two days, but the excitement and the fervour around the multi-sport event have drastically reduced. In an age and era where sports bodies are pushing for more and more sports to be included in the CWG, Asian Games, Olympics and the like, CWG 2026 in Glasgow will see only 10 sports being played. Scotland will only be the second country to host two editions of the Commonwealth Games within a span of 12 years, with Australia having earlier hosted the 2006 edition in Melbourne and 2018 in Gold Coast. But Glasgow is the only city in history to host it twice within that span. Australia were set to host the 23rd edition of the event as well, with Victoria having successfully bid to welcome the Commonwealth nations for the big-ticket tournament.
Having won the bid in August 2022, the state had begun preparing for the event, only to pull out 11 months later. How many sports were to be played in Victoria? After much deliberation and discussion, a whopping 21 sports were decided to be played at the Victoria CWG, matching the record set by the tournament in India in 2010, when the same number of sports were played. But on July 18, 2023, the Victoria state government announced its decision to withdraw from hosting the CWG, just 15 months after agreeing to stage the event. Premier Daniel Andrews said that the projected cost had ballooned to an estimated AUD 6-7 billion, far outweighing the expected benefits, making the expenditure impossible to justify. The government also confirmed it would terminate its host agreement with the CWG Federation and negotiate a settlement over the contract. How Glasgow Stepped In to Save the 2026 CWG On April 11, 2024, Glasgow emerged as a ‘last-resort option’ to host the 2026 CWG if no other bidder came forward, in an effort to save the event. The proposed edition would be scaled down, with existing venues from the 2014 CWG reused and athletes accommodated through a combination of hotels and student housing facilities at Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Glasgow.
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