The end of the Commonwealth Games?

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

Alberta has just withdrawn its bid to host in 2030, having been the only bid on the table.
Victoria has already pulled out of hosting in 2026 leaving those games currently without a host with just 3 years to go.
Last year Birmingham only hosted it because Durban was stripped of it having missed key deadlines and run out of money.
Hard to see it carrying on. Could mean lots of Welsh athletes don't get to complete in a major games.

[Trigger]

Would be a shame but it definitely feels likely.

Need to recruit the Saudis to the Commonwealth.

[Divine Wright]

Alberta has just withdrawn its bid to host in 2030, having been the only bid on the table.
Victoria has already pulled out of hosting in 2026 leaving those games currently without a host with just 3 years to go.
Last year Birmingham only hosted it because Durban was stripped of it having missed key deadlines and run out of money.
Hard to see it carrying on. Could mean lots of Welsh athletes don't get to complete in a major games.


Cardiff withdrew their bid for 2026 as well.


Common

Wealth


......always a bit of an condescending concept imo anyway. A relic of colonialism and the british empire that will thankfully be forgotten.

There are European games, Olympics and World championships.Probably about as much as athletics can sustain from a financial viewpoint, which seems to be the measuring stick for the validity of any event nowadays.

Welsh sports people will only ever be able to be able to compete under their own flag if and when the sporting body or their country gains independence from the overlord.

[Moodybluebird]

Cardiff withdrew their bid for 2026 as well.


Common

Wealth


......always a bit of an condescending concept imo anyway. A relic of colonialism and the british empire that will thankfully be forgotten.

There are European games, Olympics and World championships.Probably about as much as athletics can sustain from a financial viewpoint, which seems to be the measuring stick for the validity of any event nowadays.

Welsh sports people will only ever be able to be able to compete under their own flag if and when the sporting body or their country gains independence from the overlord.

A condescending concept to you but not to the many thousands of sportsmen and women around the globe who have been proud to represent their nations at the Commonwealth Games. A massive difference between the British Empire and the Commonwealth, which I won't go into now. Suffice to say that countries are still applying to join the Commonwealth, even those with no previous connections to the British Empire.

[Canton Kev]

I saw talks of Scotland picking it up when Victoria pulled their bid.

Presumably Glasgow since they had it less than a decade ago but Edinburgh might have enough facilities to host without too much investment.

[Pearcey3]

Does anyone really care? Is there a need for a Commonwealth Games anymore.

[blue matt]

a real shame, as some of the teams ( like Wales netball ) will never really be competitive on the world scene, but the commonwealth meant they were slightly more competitive ( they will never beat Aus, NZ, SA, Zim, Uganda, Jamaica or England with the depth they have )

[life on mars]

Think it's had its day . I'd watch athletes in events that were great 1500 meters and 800 meters especially in the golden era of Coe , Ovett , Cram and the un -sung Peter Elliott.. .. now its not very watchable as it becomes a corporate event , with small events being added , which I should imagine is the main demise of the Commonwealth Games .. not TV sexy for greedy sponsors.

[NYCBlue]

If no one thinks positively about the Commonwealth, why would they think positively about the Commonwealth Games?

[Eric the Half a Bee]

If no one thinks positively about the Commonwealth, why would they think positively about the Commonwealth Games?

Let's face it, the Commonwealth exists to show that Britain is still in charge of something on the global stage. It's a power trip, nothing more.

[Dorcus]

Does anyone really care? Is there a need for a Commonwealth Games anymore.

Boring for me and an anachronism. Olympics, World Championship and European is more than enough.

[Loramski]

Does anyone really care? Is there a need for a Commonwealth Games anymore.


The Birmingham Games were a success last year, over 1.5m tickets sold which made it the best attended CWG in the UK. A number of posters went to some of the events and the feedback was positive as I remember. I was reminded earlier that it was a year ago today I was watching my youngest compete. It was his second one and I can only echo the views of those who've pointed out what it means for Welsh sportsmen to be representing their country at an event like that. For a lot of the minority sports it's a rare day in the sun too.

They don't seem to be financially viable any more and I understand some of the negativity, of course, but I'm baffled by the argument that you have to care about the Commonwealth to care about the Games. As I've said before, do you have to care about England to follow the EFL or the Premier League? About America to follow the NFL or Europe to watch the Euros? Surely that's not how sport works?

[Alan Lung]

countries are still applying to join the Commonwealth, even those with no previous connections to the British Empire.

Got a link to back this up?

[Des Parrot]

With my affiliation with the Isle of Man, I know that this will come as a major blow to all sport on the Island, as it is the major goal & pinnacle for all. To represent your nation & gain global visibility is crucial to Manx sport.

They still have the Island Games which continues to grow with each iteration but they are one of the dominant nations and the level of competition is nowhere near the Commonwealth standard.

[cityhammer]

Got a link to back this up?
https://www.republic.org.uk/the_commonwealth#:~:text=A%20Commonwealth%20of%20R epublics&text=Ireland%20left%20never%20to%20return,member%2 0states%20is%202.4bn.

[The Bloop]

Realistically, out 50+ countries theres only 5 or 6 who could host it in its current format. A possible model could be the one used last year for the European Games. A multi sport event over a 2 week period but held at various locations, all under the same Commonwealth banner.
Losing the games would be a shame for those smaller countries and islands, as it's the only opportunity for many athletes to represent them, and also a shame for sports not in the Olympics.

[Moodybluebird]

Got a link to back this up?

To add to Cityhammer's link, the last 4 countries to join the Commonwealth, Rwanda, Mozambique, Gabon and Togo have no historical ties to the British Empire.

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

I think it'll carry on in some form but if might need to be cut back considerably to reduce the cost and make it more likely that cities will want to host it.
They've already agreed that only athletics and swimming have to be included - all other sports are optional - so this could allow for smaller games. You could argue though that as those two already have bigger competitions it's those that should go and lower profile sports continue.

[Undercoverinwurzelland]

I had no idea until I read it just now that there were 3 Winter Commonwealth Games back in the 50s & 60s. All hosted at St Moritz. There was talk of bringing it back when India hosted the summer games in 2010 but it didn't happen.

[Harry Lime]

The BBC seem to be the main news organisation making a noise out of this. I'm guessing it's because they still have the rights. Utterly irrelevant contest almost as pointless as the invictus games

[Moodybluebird]

The Commonwealth Games used to be a highlight of the sporting calendar but with so many other sports competing for our attention such as the Women's World Cup and many different codes of cricket, it's no wonder that certain people now deem them as relevant or pointless. A shame but indicative of modern life.

[WJ99mobile]

Does anyone really care? Is there a need for a Commonwealth Games anymore.
Not at all

And I also don’t think that you should be subsidised financially for choosing a sporting career

If your sport and job can’t support itself why should it be funded

[Bluebirdman Of Alcathays]

They could probably just do it all by Zoom now.

[Dorcus]

They could probably just do it all by Zoom now.

It worked for Fat Larry's band

[Loramski]

Not at all

And I also don’t think that you should be subsidised financially for choosing a sporting career

If your sport and job can’t support itself why should it be funded

What are you referring to or are you under the impression that anyone who plays sport at international level gets paid for it by the government? What does 'choosing a sporting career' even mean here?

My lad has a full time job, has to fit in club and international training, matches and tournaments around that and, along with the rest of the squad, has to pay over a grand a year to be part of the national set-up. Wales have broken into the top 16 in the world, qualified for a World Cup and three successive Euros in an increasingly professional sport but the players are still having to pay their own way.

I can't talk for other CWG sports (Blue Matt may know about netball) but I assume it's a similar situation for participants in most of them. A massive sacrifice of both time and money and yet you see them as spongers. Bizarre.