Ghana in talks to host 2026 Commonwealth Games – Sports Minister
Ghana’s Sports Ministry has held talks with the governing body of the Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), over the possibility of hosting the 2026 Games.
According to Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif who spoke to GHOne TV, the preliminary discussions had been positive.
”In fact the president of Commonwealth Games was in Ghana. He has visited our facilities and held a meeting with my good self. I had the opportunity of even attending some of their meetings,”
”And their programs, they want African nation. They said it is time for Africa to host the Commonwealth Games, and Ghana, we have the facilities now.” he said.
The 2026 Games is currently without a host city after Malaysia rejected the CGF’s offer, which included £100 million ($126 million) in supporting funds.
In an official statement, Malaysia said its decision was due to time constraints, costs and an insufficient offer of funding.
The CGF had asked Malaysia to step in after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew, citing ballooning costs.
While Malaysia and the Australian City of Victoria consider the Games to be too expensive, Mustapha Ussif has said it will not cost a fortune to do it.
”It is not going to cost us as much as it cost us to organise the African Games if we decide as a country to go for Commonwealth Games,”
”The beauty of the Commonwealth Games is that they will even give you funding that will come from Commonwealth Games Secretariat, unlike the African Games.”
Countries are not lining up to host the Games due to the cost involved and legacy issues.
The cost involved is what drove away the Australian City of Victoria. In their case, the Games was going to cost an estimated $4.8 billion to host it.
Victoria Premier Dan Andrews said “Frankly A$6-A$7 billion for a 12-day sporting event, we’re not doing that.”
By his own admission, Victoria made the decision even before working out the cost of breaking its contract with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).
As it turns out, Dan Andrews would later confirm that the Victoria State had agreed to pay $243 million to Commonwealth Games organizers.
In 2019, the CGF revealed that the Birmingham 2022 games would cost an estimated £778million. The UK government agreed to a 75-25 cost-sharing formula with the Birmingham City Council.
A year after hosting the Games, the Birmingham City Council effectively declared bankruptcy to meet equal pay claims. In a statement, the Labour council of the largest local authority in Europe said the notice was a “necessary step as we seek to get our city back on a sound financial footing”.
It is not clear how much it will cost Ghana to host the Games and where the funding will come from.
Ghana recently spent over $289 million on facilities, operational cost and associated expenses to host the 2023 African Games.
