Commonwealth Games 2022 NZ medal winners Lewis Clareburt, Aaron Gate, Paul Coll, Joelle King, Jacko Gill and Tom Walsh. Photo: Photosport / AFP
Scotland stepped in to save the Commonwealth Games with the offer of a scaled-back version of the event to be held in Glasgow in 2026, but the New Zealand Olympic Committee expected a return to the full programme of sports for future Games.
The 2026 Games were originally to be held in the Australian state of Victoria, but they withdrew due to rising costs.
In a late scramble to find a new host the Scottish government backed a bid that utilised the £100 million offered from the Commonwealth Games Federation as part of the Victoria Commonwealth Games settlement alongside a further £2.3 million from Commonwealth Games Australia.
Glasgow 2026 would not require financial underwriting from either the Scottish or UK governments.
Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Maddy Green, Jess McFadyen and captain Sophie Devine of New Zealand with their Birmingham Commonwealth Hames bronze medals. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) chief executive officer Nicki Nicol said the Glasgow proposal of 10 sports to be held in four existing venues was a one-off. The last Games in Birmingham had 19 sports.
"A smaller Games footprint as what is being proposed for Scotland is only for 2026, and that is because of the unprecedented nature of the Victoria situation that we've all found ourselves in that is not the aspiration of the Games, and certainly I would expect from 2030 onwards we're back to a Games we know and everyone loves."
Nicol acknowledged the need for a reduced sports programme in the interim.
"What Scotland have tried to do is fit within in a certain financial envelope and they have worked out how much commercial revenue they can earn from tickets, sponsorship and broadcasting, and then they've tried to right-size the Games because their whole commitment to Scotland was that they wouldn't draw on public funds - and that's what they've done.
"What we've learnt in that process is that the future Games can be much more economically sustainable."
Aquatics and athletics are locked in for 2026 as part of the required blueprint of the current Games format, however other sports will be on the chopping block.
Which sports will miss out is yet to be confirmed by the Commonwealth Games Federation.
"I know there is a lot of anxiousness across the sports to know if they are in or out as soon as we get the information we will get as much certainty to our sports as we can," Nicol said.
A disappointed Silver Ferns side with their silver medals at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Photo: Photosport
Netball New Zealand's David Cooper was pleased there was confirmation the Games would go ahead "as there was certainly some concern as to how the Games might look in 2026, 2027 or whenever it might be held".
"The Games are a really important part of our high performance pathway. It's one of the two pinnacle events that we look forward to on our four year cycle so we're excited things are heading to a conclusion."
He was confident netball would be on the programme in Glasgow.
"There's no guarantees that we will be in, but we're optimistic. Netball has traditionally been well supported. We have sold out events at the Commonwealth Games for a number of years now, so we are looking forward to heading to Scotland."
Nicol said for sports that did miss out, the NZOC would work with them on strategies for other international competition in what would have been the Games cycle.
The Commonwealth Games were a stepping stone to the Olympics, Nicol said, and she had some concern for the athletes if an alternative host for the 2026 games had not been found.
"Sixty percent of the athletes that went to Birmingham and Paris [Olympics] were in the top eight at the Olympics - that's an amazing statistic, so we know the importance of it.
"We really want the Commonwealth Games to go ahead and we have also had pretty high confidence in the capability of Scotland to deliver it."
Commonwealth Games, Christchurch 1974 Photo: Flickr
Despite the trouble in securing a host for 2026 at short notice, Nicol was not worried that future hosts would be hard to find.
"Now we've got more time, I know the Commonwealth Games Federation are really keen to start looking at other opportunities. They're in India right now and had really productive meetings, and we know India are keen to host in the future, so there are some other markets that if you had more time could of been really credible."
New Zealand had a bid for the 2034 Commonwealth Games signed off by the previous government, and Nicol said they would continue to seek bipartisan support via the current government, but she acknowledged there was still a lot of work to be done before New Zealand could host the Games again.