Could London host 2026 Commonwealth Games? Mayor supports potential bid as Australian state pull out

Victoria’s Premier announced on Tuesday that the state had cancelled their plans to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games and the Mayor of London has now confirmed he would support a bid to take over.

Daniel Andrews, Victoria’s premier, said the estimated costs had tripled, raising doubts about its future but a spokesperson for Sadiq Khan has said that “London as a sporting capital stands ready to support if required.”

A final decision to host the Games, which was hosted by Birmingham in 2022, would be made by the government and the 12-day competition would be expected to cost the host £3.5 billion. London hosted the 2012 Olympics with great success and has since gone on to welcome several other major sporting events such as the UEFA Women’s Euros 2022, the annual NFL International Series, Wimbledon and FA Cup finals.

In Tuesday’s announcement, Mr Andrews said Victoria had been “happy to help out” when approached but “not at any price. I’ve made a lot of difficult calls, a lot of very difficult decisions in this job. This is not one of them. That is all cost and no benefit.”

In response, the CGF said they had been blindsided by the Victorian state’s decision, saying “We are disappointed that we were only given eight hours’ notice and that no consideration was given to discussing the situation to jointly find solutions.”

What has London’s Mayor said?

A spokesperson for Khan said that a decision to make a bid “would need to be taken by the government. However, London is the sporting capital of the world, with a wealth of experience in hosting major sporting events. The mayor stands ready to support a submission for 2026 and future global events.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the UK government hoped a “viable solution” could be found by the Australian authorities and the CGF. The claim that the move was a sign of the decline of the Commonwealth as a whole was also rejected.

Tuesday also saw Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf say that he too was willing to consider proposals for Scotland to host at least part of the 2026 Games.

The games have been scheduled to take place from 17 March until 29 March 2026 and have only ever been cancelled during World War Two.