PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will not be hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games, says youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh.
She posted a statement by her ministry on X, which said the Cabinet had decided on the matter at a meeting today after considering all the implications and aspects of hosting the event.
“The government will not accept the Commonwealth Games Federation’s (CGF) offer to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
“A delegation from the CGF had met the youth and sports minister and held a briefing on their offer, which was also attended by the second finance minister on Feb 5,” the statement read.
According to the statement, the results tabled before the Cabinet expressed, among other things, that the £100 million (RM603 million) offer from CGF would not be able to cover the overall cost of hosting a large-scale sports event.
“Besides that, the economic impact cannot be determined in this short period of time,” it said.
Earlier this month, sports commissioner Suhardi Alias criticised the proposal for Malaysia to rescue the Commonwealth Games by hosting the 2026 edition at short notice.
The first top Malaysian civil servant to oppose the move led by Olympic Council of Malaysia president Norza Zakaria, Suhardi said the plan was shocking, financially risky and short-sighted, and that he was against wasting public funds.
“Why do we want to be the saviour for the games when Victoria dumped it, and nobody else wants it?” he said.
The Australian state of Victoria had withdrawn as hosts after citing concerns about increasing costs, which could rise to more than A$7 billion (RM21.7 billion) from a budgeted A$2.6 billion.
The proposal to host the games had been roundly panned by others as well, with former sporting greats Karu Selvaratnam and Santokh Singh warning the government of the potential financial and economic repercussions.
Hashim Ali, the former chairman of Sukom Ninety Eight Bhd, which was formed to manage the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, had also said Malaysia is not in the best position to host the games, as two years are not enough to prepare for such an endeavour.
He had noted that it took Sukom four years to plan and deliver the 1998 games.
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