CGF eyes 15-sport line-up for future Games

(Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
(Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has targeted a 15-sport programme for the centenary edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2030 and beyond after Glasgow opted for a heavily reduced line-up given the short preparation time.

Following a 17-sport programme the last time Glasgow hosted in 2014, the event grew to 18 and 19 sports at Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022, respectively, but will be cut to 10 sports in 2026.

Glasgow’s slimmed-down, four-venue concept unveiled yesterday (Tuesday) means that staples of previous Games such as badminton, field hockey, rugby sevens and squash miss out. Only athletics and swimming are mandatory core sports, leaving Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) to strike the balance between the sports’ popularity, number of athletes, venue requirements and Scottish medal prospects, along with a para-sports programme.

Speaking to SportBusiness in Glasgow at the official Games launch, CGF chief executive Katie Sadleir said: “10 sports is the right size for the 21 months [of preparation time]. We see it moving back up to around 15 but not a lot more than that.

“Ultimately it depends on what the countries who are putting up their hands can cope with. We think 10 sports is going to be a stunning action-filled event.”

The nine sports returning from Glasgow 2014 are: athletics (and para-athletics); swimming (and para-swimming); track cycling (and para-track cycling); netball; weightlifting (and para-powerlifting); boxing; judo; bowls (and para bowls); and artistic gymnastics. Meanwhile, 3×3 basketball and 3×3 wheelchair basketball are part of the programme after making their debuts at Birmingham 2022.

The four venues are Glasgow’s Scotstoun Stadium, Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Emirates Arena (including the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome) and the Scottish Event Campus (SEC). CGS looked at staging rugby sevens alongside athletics at Scotstoun but felt it was impossible to turn around the field of play and have sufficient back-of-house space.

CGS estimates the Games cost at £114m (€137m/$148m), a figure dwarfed by the £472.3m figure for Glasgow 2014. The 2026 Games are being largely underwritten by the figure of over £100m (€119m/$132m) provided by the CGF from the compensation pot after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out if its proposed 22-sport Games.

Shooting, table tennis, triathlon and wrestling will also not return from Glasgow 2014 while diving will not be part of the aquatics programme.

Sadleir ceded that maintaining a size of sports programme that avoids constant fluctuations is challenging, also when looking to offer certainty to commercial partners. The CGF has also engaged in talks about retaining the sports’ presence in alternative Commonwealth events.

She said: “What you want to do is make sure a host has the opportunity to bring their flavour to the Games at the same time as creating stability for your international federations.

“One of the things we’ve explored is Commonwealth championships outside of the Commonwealth Games. During some of the hard conversations we’ve had with our international federations over Glasgow, it’s something that they want to sit down and talk to us about. Want to have relationships with our international sports federations beyond just the Commonwealth Games.

“We’ve told them that we’ve got the centenary [edition of the Commonwealth Games] just around the corner, we’re about to go out for expressions of interest. Just because you’re not on the programme now does not mean that you’re not key for 2030.”

Prospective hosts for 2030 are, according to the CGF CEO, interested at bringing their own “traditional, indigenous sports” to the programme.

Three years ago, the CGF cut its list of compulsory sports from 16 to just athletics and swimming. As it struggled to find hosts, the move was designed to give cities greater freedom to select their own sports and disciplines appealing to younger audiences. That “strategic roadmap” also alleviated the need for an athletes’ village and encouraged co-hosting.

“We heard very loud and clear that the Games had got to a size and scale that the Commonwealth couldn’t host outside of the UK and Australia”, said Sadleir.

“If a way of bringing down the cost is not to invest significant capital in infrastructure build, then working together with countries side by side is the way to go. We are really keen to explore co-hosting.”

Glasgow’s talks with the CGF were exclusively reported by SportBusiness in April. The CGF claimed to be considering “multiple proposals” to host the 2026 Games yet only Scotland came forward publicly to discuss its vision.

Asked yesterday if there was ever a concrete alternative to Glasgow with such a short preparation timeframe, Sadleir told SportBusiness: “We dealt with several of our members over the last 12 months who were really excited and passionate about the potential, but when it came down to it, being able to pull something like this off 21 months out you needed to have the facilities and the expertise. It was going to be challenging.

“We started working on what alternative concepts might be. One of the things we want to do under our Commonwealth United strategy is to have events outside of the Commonwealth Games to lift the profile of the Commonwealth sports movement.

“What we probably would have had to do is move into those concepts if we didn’t have 2026 over the line.”