'Really disappointing': Star lashes Comm Games axing

1 year ago 131

The Victorian authorities has announced the 2026 Commonwealth Games volition not spell up successful the authorities owed to fiscal issues - and the bombshell telephone is already drafting backlash.

The Games were owed to beryllium hosted successful determination Victoria, but premier Dan Andrews has abandoned those plans.

He made the announcement to media connected Tuesday morning.

Andrews said the archetypal fund to big the Games successful 5 determination cities was $2.6 billion, but the authorities came to the realisation it would request to walk arsenic overmuch arsenic $7b to big the 12-day event.

"I volition not instrumentality wealth retired of hospitals and schools to money an lawsuit that is 3 times the outgo what was estimated and budgeted for past year," helium said.

Australian swimmers Emma McKeon and Cody Simpson. (Getty)

"I person made a batch of hard calls, a batch of precise hard decisions successful this job. This is not 1 of them.

"Frankly, six to $7 cardinal for a 12-day sporting event, we are not doing that. That does not correspond worth for money."

The determination has not been received good by Australian athletes.

Former tennis subordinate turned Liberal MP Sam Groth fumed astatine the Andrews authorities via Twitter.

Former champion swimmer James Magnussen was devastated to perceive the news.

"It's truly disappointing," helium told SEN radio.

"The Commonwealth Games holds a peculiar spot successful Australian athletes' hearts. We don't get a expansive last each twelvemonth similar you bash successful the shot codes. We bid year-round to execute often erstwhile per year.

"You've got a World Champs year, you've got a Comm Games year, and you've got an Olympics year. Take that retired of the rhythm and we're racing erstwhile each 2 years.

"As an jock who competed astatine the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and for each those fans who went along... that was a monolithic lawsuit and was precise good received.

"It inactive holds a batch of value successful the sporting scenery present successful Australia. That's fundamentally the biggest recruitment instrumentality for a athletics similar swimming. People are watching NRL and AFL each weekend.

"Something similar the Commonwealth Games connected location ungraded conscionable ignites that imagination for a young athlete. It has a immense interaction connected those sports."

For a regular dose of the champion of the breaking quality and exclusive contented from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!