Fireworks are set off at the Opening Ceremony to the XVIII Commonwealth Games, at the MCG, Melbourne, Australia 2006 Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Australia's state of Victoria will not host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, citing cost overruns, state Premier Dan Andrews said.
Victoria's withdrawal places the future of the quadrennial Games under doubt given the challenge of finding replacement hosts three years out from the event.
Andrews said the cost of the Games could blow out to more than A$7 billion from a budgeted A$2.6 billion.
"Frankly A$6-A$7 billion for a 12-day sporting event, we're not doing that," Andrews said at a media conference.
No other countries outside Australia bid for the 2026 Games.
The multi-sport gathering for mostly former British colonies has struggled to remain relevant, with four of the last five editions held in Australia or Britain.
English city Birmingham stepped in to host the 2022 Games after South Africa were stripped of them in 2017 over a lack of progress in preparations.
Victoria stepped in to bid for the 2026 Games when no other countries showed interest.
Officials had talked up the legacy benefits from new infrastructure in the regional hubs of Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Gippsland, and an economic boost of more than A$3 billion from tourism and thousands of new jobs.
"As a state, of course we were willing to help out, but of course not at any price and only if there were lasting benefits for Victorian communities and benefit for the whole state," Andrews said.
The government would instead spend more than A$2 billion on a "regional package" which would include building all permanent sporting facilities intended for the Games, along with A$1 billion earmarked for social and affordable housing.
Soon after the announcement, Australian sport officials were touting the country's largest state of New South Wales as an alternative host for 2026.
NSW state capital Sydney hosted the 2000 Olympics.
"There's no question we've got the venues ... and March would be a good time to host it," John Coates, an International Olympic Committee Vice-President and former Australian Olympic Committee boss, said in comments published by Sydney's Daily Telegraph.
NZOC chief executive Nicki Nicol. Photo: Photosport
The chief executive of the New Zealand Olympic Committee Nicki Nicol said she was "incredibly disappointed" by Victoria's sudden withdrawal.
She said it was an unsettling time for New Zealand athletes and "we are looking to the Commonwealth Games Federation as it begins a process to appoint a new host for 2026."
-Reuters/RNZ