Scaled back 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow ‘will still be high quality’

The Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2026 will still be a “high-quality event” despite financial constraints and a tight timescale for organisers, the chairman of Commonwealth Games Scotland has said.

Ian Reid was speaking after the Scottish Government backed plans for the city to step in and host the sporting tournament in less than two years’ time.

The city had been seen as the last possible host for the event after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out last year, citing concerns about rising costs.

Mr Reid said he is confident no public cash will be needed to stage the event, adding organisers have a “significant contingency” fund on top of money from the Commonwealth Games Federation,  Commonwealth Games Australia – which will provide funding after Victoria’s withdrawal – and commercial revenues.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Reid said: “We recognise the challenges with the public purse at the moment, both at a local and national level.

“This is a fully funded event, we have money from the Commonwealth Games Federation, from Commonwealth Games Australia, from the commercial revenue we raise, and we have got a significant contingency and a good bit of flexibility in our agreement with the federation.

“So yes, we are very confident we will not need public money.”

It will take place 12 years after Glasgow hosted the Games in the summer of 2014, with First Minister John Swinney having already said that while it will be “scaled back” compared to that event, it will still be “a celebration of sporting achievement”.

Mr Reid also accepted the 2026 Games will be “different” to the 2014 event, with fewer sports involved, though he insisted it will be “a high-quality event”.

Competitions in 10 sports are planned for 2026, with swimming and athletics both mandatory parts of the contest.

Commonwealth Games Scotland will now speak to other international federations “over the next week or two” to determine the other eight sports, Mr Reid added.

Mr Reid said: “We recognise we have obviously got a lot less time to organise it and we have got a bit less money.

“But what we have focused on is ensuring we are using the world-class venues, the experience we have got in the city on the back of 2014 and other events to make sure we can deliver something a bit more efficiently and bit more compact.”

He said the sports programme “will still be very high quality, I think spectators, athletes, everybody involved in the event will still see something that feels like the Commonwealth Games”.

Four existing venues in Glasgow will be used for all sports – Scotstoun stadium, the Scottish Events Campus, the Emirates arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, and the Tollcross swimming centre.

While he said Scotstoun is smaller than Hampden, which hosted athletics in 2014, he added it is “much more important to us that we fill a smaller venue and still create an incredible atmosphere”.

He said although there will be “fewer people watching in total”, there will not necessarily be “fewer people watching for a lot of the sports we had in 2014”.

He insisted: “There will still be a Commonwealth Games level of broadcast, level of spectator and athlete experience for those sports.”

He said there could be “in excess of half a million tickets” available for the Games, and added: “This is still a huge event.”

He also stressed organisers will “not be exploiting ticket prices”, saying: “We are very much focused on making sure the event is accessible.

“We will want to make sure people can come and afford to attend.”