Last month the BBC reported that the organisers of the Commonwealth Games were concerned about the future of the event after no member country had expressed serious interest in hosting the 2022 edition.
The announcement came with only two months to go before the March deadline for applicant cities.
Cardiff, who is pursuing a bid for the 2026 games, said it would be ‘unlikely’ for them to bring their bid forward to 2022.
Does this mean the Commonwealth Games are dead? What relevance do the Commonwealth Games still have?
Already this year’s Games in Glasgow are reported to have cost £1 billion.
The 2010 Delhi Games were huge. They featured 6,081 athletics, 21 sports and 272 events. India spent $8.5 billion putting the games together and incurred a whole lot of debt, disused stadiums and several lawsuits.
According to a list compiled by foreign governments, of the 32 international contractors employed to help run the games, only two have been paid in full!
Currently the Commonwealth features 53 members. In 2010, 71 counties attended the games, including some of the poorest and most volatile places on the planet like Zambia, Vanautu, Uganda and Pakistan.
How on earth can Games organisers continue to justify an event of such size? The first games only had six sports.
Delhi had nearly double the number of athletes that attended the Manchester Games in 2002.
What sports can be cut? How can the games make a profit, or at least not lose an absolute fortune?
Does the Commonwealth Games still fire you up? Or are they heading the same way as the Goodwill Games?
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