Australia’s Victoria in talks to host 2026 Commonweath Games
Australian state Victoria on Wednesday said that it was in exclusive talks to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
It is planned to hold events across Victoria, whose capital city is Melbourne, if it secures the multisports games, said the state’s premier Daniel Andrews.
.@CommGamesAUS has signed a Heads of Agreement with the Victorian Government & @thecgf to enter exclusive negotiations to bring the 2026 Commonwealth Games to Victoria with a vision to deliver an unprecedented Games. #Victoria2026 #GreaterTogetherhttps://t.co/D9U189wHvJ
— Commonwealth Games Australia (@CommGamesAUS) February 16, 2022
“Victoria is Australia’s sporting state, and, if awarded, the 2026 Commonwealth Games would demonstrate to the world a new way to deliver the competition,” Andrews said.
“We would hope to have the majority of events in our regional cities to display the best of Victoria, create jobs and housing and infrastructure that will deliver for the long term.”
Victoria last hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2006 when events were focused on the state capital Melbourne.
The state said it had signed a “heads of agreement” for exclusive negotiations on hosting the competition again in 2026.
The state Goverment has signed an agreement to begin exclusive negotiations with the Commonwealth Games Federation. Premier says if we win the games it will be hosted across the state with a major cultural festival to celebrate the diversity of competing nations. @7NewsMelbourne pic.twitter.com/0tAIsilfY4
— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) February 15, 2022
The agreement was signed with the Commonwealth Games Federation and Commonwealth Games Australia.
“Victoria is one of the world’s greatest sporting states and there is no doubt it has the venues, infrastructure and people to stage a world class edition of the Games,” said Commonwealth Games Federation president Louise Martin.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games are due to be held in Birmingham, England, from July 28 to August 8.