The province of Alberta, in Canada, has just announced that it is renouncing to organize the Commonwealth Games of 2030, an equivalent of the Olympic Games, but in which only the countries, fewer and fewer, that are part of the Commonwealth under the leadership of the United Kingdom. The Canadians have cited the cost of hosting such an event to justify their withdrawal, an announcement that comes just weeks after the state of Victoria, Australia, also gave up hosting the same Games. , which it was to host in 2026 and for the same reasons.
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With our correspondent in Sydney, Gregory Plesse
The Commonwealth Games, originally created to celebrate the power of the British Empire, may be living their last hours. While in 2030, the competition is to celebrate the centenary of the Games, the organizers scheduled for the next two editions – in 2026 and 2030 – have decided to give it up for financial reasons.
But in reality, candidates for the organization of these Games have been becoming increasingly rare for a long time. Thus, for the 2026 edition, none of the 89 member countries and territories of the Commonwealth Games Federation had applied.
The State of Victoria had then volunteered, but imposing its conditions: instead of them taking place, as is the tradition, in a large city, in this case Melbourne, they would be decentralized and distributed in four regional centers. But that was before the bill exploded.
Moreover, some of these Games have hints of imperialism that its member countries find it increasingly difficult to bear: thus in a century, these Games have never been organized in Africa and only twice in Asia. In 2019, the president of the Indian Olympic association, Narinder Batra, even went so far as to say that, for him, these Commonwealth Games were just a waste of time and money.
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