Gold Coast, the Australian city on the Queensland coast, has decided not to bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. It had previously hosted the multi-sport jamboree in 2018.
The city’s mayor, Tom Tate, had said that it could host the Games again, but was opposed by his deputy mayor and both the Queensland and Australian governments said they would not back another bid.
There are currently no cities bidding for the 2026 event and organisers have said this could mean that the next edition could be cancelled or postponed.
The Australian state of Victoria had initially put in a big, but this was withdrawn after the state’s government raised concerns over the potential cost.
Critics have said that the cost of hosting the event is too high and no longer has the prestige it used to have.
Reports say that London could potentially host the 2026 Games, with Scotland possibly also hosting some events but this has not been confirmed.
Image: Tony Hisgett, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons