
Preparations for the 2026 Commonwealth Games have had their share of upheavals. Designated as host in April 2022, the state of Victoria (Australia) has backpedaledand announced that he was abandoning the project in 2023. The event will finally take place in Glasgowwhile the previous edition had already been organised in the United Kingdom, more precisely in Birmingham. Despite the bad signal sent by the Australian withdrawal, Chris Jenkins, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), wants to be optimistic about the future of the event. "We changed the Games, he emphasizes to BBC Sport Wales. They are much more affordable and much more attractive. We are not the Olympics and we will not be. We have learned over the last few years, we have analyzed the situation. We have reset and reframed the Gamesso that they fit exactly what we should be.”
Chris Jenkins sees Glasgow 2026 as such "a starting point", welcoming a cost reduction "more than 50%". The host city for the 2030 edition remains to be determined since Canada has also withdrawn the candidacy of the Province of Alberta. Will the Games succeed in relaunching themselves and attracting audiences beyond the United Kingdom, a condition sine qua nonto their good vitality? "We have spoken to our members and we are convinced that we have analysed the environment and have designed the Games, our product, well, assures Chris Jenkins. We can start marketing them to potential hosts with the certainty that we are in the right place." Bright days ahead of the Games?