White smoke for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. It was about time. Two years before the event, the Scottish government has probably saved the next edition by publicly supporting Glasgow's project to host the Games in a very minimalist version, in its programme and in its costs. Chris Jenkins, the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), explained in a press release: " We have been working with Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) and the Scottish Government for several months and are delighted to hear that CGS has received confirmation of Government support to enable it to progress its bid to host the Games in 2026. ". At this stage, nothing is official yet, but the green light from the authorities is the last missing piece to formally award the 2026 edition to Glasgow, host city of the Games in 2014. The rest is already well advanced, with an investment of 100 million pounds from the Commonwealth Games Federation, and financial assistance of several million pounds from Commonwealth Games Australia. In their application file, the Scots are proposing a very reduced version of the multi-sport event, with only 10 sports and four competition sites. Planned budget: 114 million pounds according to the BBC. In 2014, Glasgow had organized a "normal" edition of the Games, with nearly 5.000 athletes from 71 nations, and a program of 18 sports. Cost: 575,6 million pounds, including 90 million devoted to security. As a reminder, the Commonwealth Games were to be held in Victoria, but the Australian state ultimately gave up. Malaysia, which was interested for a while, withdrew, despite aid of 100 million pounds promised by the CGF.
