Good morning.
“I’ve made a lot of very difficult decisions in this job – this is not one of them,” said Daniel Andrews, premier of Victoria in Australia, when he announced on Tuesday that the state was no longer willing to host the Commonwealth Games in 2026.
The projected cost of hosting the event, pitched at A$2.6bn (around £1.3bn), had in fact risen to well over twice that, he said: “Frankly, A$6-7bn for a 12-day sporting event? We are not doing that.”
The announcement came as a shock to the event’s governing body, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which blamed Victoria for adding to its initial plans for the games, causing costs to spiral.
But if there are questions for the Victoria state government, there are more fundamental ones now facing the entire Commonwealth Games project. This is the second games in a row to have unexpectedly lost its original host city, and there is no guarantee a replacement will be found for 2026, or beyond.
For today’s newsletter, I asked Guardian chief sports writer Sean Ingle if this could really be the end of the Commonwealth Games. First, today’s headlines.
Five big stories
Law | A British woman who was jailed for terminating her pregnancy after the legal time limit during lockdown will be released from prison and reunited with her children. A court of appeal judge said Carla Foster, a mother of three, needed “compassion, not punishment”, adding that her 28-month sentence would be reduced to 14 months and suspended.
Heatwave | The EU has weighed in with help to combat wildfires in Greece, dispatching four Canadair water bombers as the battle to douse blazes that have raged around Athens intensified. Across Europe, back-to-back heatwaves have sent temperatures soaring, while Tuesday marked the 19th day the US city of Phoenix has been subjected to temperatures of at least 110F (43.3C).
Ukraine | An investigation has identified four military units under Russia’s command that allegedly carried out human rights abuses during the occupation of the Ukrainian city of Izium. After liberating the city last year, Ukrainian troops discovered a mass grave, containing 447 bodies including the remains of 22 Ukrainian soldiers, as well as several torture chambers.
North Korea | An American national has crossed the heavily fortified border from South Korea into North Korea, according to the US-led UN Command overseeing the area. The body tweeted on Tuesday that the US citizen was on a tour of the border village of Panmunjom and crossed into North Korea without authorisation.
Policing | The 36-year fight for justice by the family of the murdered private detective Daniel Morgan has ended with the Metropolitan police this morning admitting liability for their errors and corruption, and paying damages. Morgan was found dead in March 1987 outside a London pub with an axe through his head. His family believe he had been about to expose police corruption.
In depth: ‘I think there is a serious risk we’ve seen the last Commonwealth Games’
The athletic contest that became the Commonwealth Games was first held in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1930 and featured 11 competing teams, including the four British home nations, British Guyana and Newfoundland. “From many parts of the British empire,” its competitors vowed, “we are here assembled as amateur athletes to compete in friendly competition.”
The event has changed somewhat since then – it is no longer known as the British empire games for a start. The most recent games, held in Birmingham last year, were the largest ever staged, involving 72 participating nations and more than 5,000 athletes. There was every indication, then, that the event would reach its centenary.
Today, things look very different. Following Victoria’s withdrawal, “I think there is a serious risk we’ve seen the last Commonwealth Games”, says Sean Ingle.
How did things go so badly wrong?
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What’s the background?
The story behind the Commonwealth Games going to the state of Victoria begins six years ago, when Durban in South Africa, which had been awarded the 2022 event, was stripped of its rights to host by the CGF, amid concerns about its financial viability.
Organisers hastily turned to Birmingham, which had been scheduled to host in 2026, to step in four years early. Described by the then-West Midlands mayor as a “fantastic Christmas present” for the city when it was announced in December 2017, the decision had in fact come at a huge cost to its hosts, with the British government stumping up £560m and Birmingham council a remarkable £190m for the privilege of staging it.
Those games were seen as a great success, says Sean, “in the sense that lots of people turned up and bought tickets and celebrated”. But bringing forward the Birmingham event left a hole for 2026 – meaning the CGF needed to twist more arms. It turned to the Australian state.
“In the past, all these events would have multiple bidders with lavish PR campaigns, and they would fight it out,” Sean says. “But because the Commonwealth Games has been struggling, the CGF asked Victoria to step in – and they were awarded it in 2022.
“There wasn’t much of a bid process. Part of that was the pandemic – but partly it’s just there aren’t that many cities that want to host the Commonwealth Games.”
Why not? “Unfortunately, the Commonwealth Games is very much at the lower end of the pecking order when it comes to major sporting events. It’s a long way behind not just the Olympics and the World Cup, but even regional events like the European Athletics Championships or the African Games. So you’re asking cities to put a lot of money forward for an event that, if we’re being absolutely honest, doesn’t really capture the imagination.”
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What went wrong with the Victoria bid?
That was the subject of some heated toing and froing on Tuesday.
The Australians initially believed they could keep costs down by staging the games at existing venues in Melbourne and cities across Victoria, including Shepparton, Bendigo and Ballarat.
The reasons for their dramatically revised budget aren’t clear, but the CGF was withering, saying the sums were 50% higher than it had been told last month. The Victorian government had “walked away” from its agreement, it said in a statement, and if costs had risen, it was the Victorians’ fault: “Since [Victoria was awarded] the games, the government has made decisions to include more sports and an additional regional hub, and changed plans for venues, all of which have added considerable expense, often against [our advice].”
Others were more outspoken: Craig Phillips, chief executive of Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA), the country’s representative body, called the revised estimates “a gross exaggeration”.
Australian opposition politicians have called the cancellation a “massive humiliation”, but, says Sean, “the fact is, I think cities are more aware that you’re asking for an awful lot of investment for something that’s a great two-week party, but then is over. And the city is often left with a massive bill at the end of it.”
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What happens next?
“We are taking advice on the options available to us and remain committed to finding a solution for the games in 2026 that is in the best interest of our athletes and the wider Commonwealth sport movement,” the CGF said yesterday. But it is difficult to see where such a solution will lie.
Britain’s costly offer to step in the last time the games were in jeopardy was partly in response to pressure from Buckingham Palace, it has been reported, with no one wanting to embarrass the Queen by cancelling a favourite event in her jubilee year. Particularly in the context of a biting cost of living crisis, another British bailout seems extremely unlikely, says Sean.
Nonetheless, it is striking that – before Victoria pulled out – six of the past seven Commonwealth games would have been hosted in either Australia or the UK. Realistically, only a few others would be able to afford it, says Sean, “and it doesn’t surprise me that many of them are looking at the figures and thinking, actually it isn’t worth it”. Even if a replacement bidder is found, he says, any games in 2026 is likely to be a considerably smaller affair.
“I think whether it’s in 2026, or 2030, or whenever it is – if we’re not at the end, we’re coming to the end of the Commonwealth Games. I can’t see that there will be many more. It just feels like a big anachronism now.”
What else we’ve been reading
ICYMI: Nesrine Malik’s harrowing long read on how war has devastated the Sudanese capital of Khartoum captures the visceral human toll of the conflict. Weaving in her own story of growing up in Sudan, Malik unpacks the simmering social, economic and class tensions that led up to the destruction of her former home. “As Khartoum burns, that tranquil childhood journey to visit my grandparents plays over and over in my mind, as I try to capture the city in my memory one last time, and bid it farewell,” she writes. Nimo
Many of those skulking on social media had heard Huw Edwards’s name long before his wife named him as the man at the centre of last week’s Sun/BBC scandal. This fascinating and disturbing piece from the Guardian’s TechScape newsletter explains tech firms’ promises to stop this kind of thing – and what is going wrong. Esther
The accelerated development of AI chatbots has raised ethical dilemmas in all kinds of sectors. Aimee Pearcy dives into one such conundrum by speaking to people who have turned to ChatGPT to impersonate dead loved ones to help them grieve. The creation of a digital afterlife has raised serious questions about the rights of the deceased, what it means to die, and how to treat a person with dignity once they are gone. Nimo
Before she started borrowing other people’s dogs to take on walks, Rachel Shabi didn’t really get why so many people saw them as part of the family. But as she writes in this lovely piece about how the experience changed her, “pre-dog me was a fool”. Esther
Jamie Driscoll, the mayor of the North of Tyne, launched a crowdfunder to help launch his campaign to run as an independent in the mayoral race after the Labour party blocked him from representing them. He said if he could raise £25,000 by the end of August for his campaign, he would be all in. In less than 24 hours he raised triple that initial goal. For the Guardian, Driscoll explained why people have come out in their droves to support him. Nimo
Sport
Cricket | England have won the third ODI to draw the women’s Ashes. England 285-9 beat Australia 199 by 69 runs (DLS). Nat Sciver-Brunt scored her second century in three days, and her fourth in her past five ODI innings against Australia, who retain the Ashes trophy by virtue of being current holders.
Cycling | Jonas Vingegaard crushed Tadej Pogacar’s hopes of reversing his 10 second deficit in the Tour de France by opening up a huge overall lead in the stage 16 time trial, dramatically ending days of shadow boxing through the French Alps. Vingegaard won stage 16 and leads Pogacar by 1min 48sec.
Football | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has agreed terms to join Marseille on a three-year contract. Negotiations are not expected to be complicated, with his current club, Chelsea, keen to sell the 34-year-old.
The front pages
The Guardian print edition leads this morning with “Revealed: soaring toll of 28,000 convictions for Covid breaches”. Also on the front is “Giant battery factory set for Somerset”, which is the splash in the Financial Times – “Tata Motors poised to unveil plan for flagship battery factory in Somerset” – the paper hails it as a “crucial deal for car industry”. “Mercy for abortion mother” says the Metro on its front page. “Legal fears over gender guidance for schools” – that’s the Times, and its picture lead is a policeman carrying a child away from wildfires in Greece. The same scene from a different angle covers page one of the Mirror which says Europe is “Burning up” in a “Heatwave from hell”. “PM: toughest ever laws send clear message to migrants” says the Daily Express after the small boats bill was passed. The Daily Mail has “Top Bank ‘lied’ over Farage ban” and the Daily Telegraph’s headline explains further: “Bank axed Farage as ‘he doesn’t align with our values’”.
Today in Focus
The World Cup and the future of women’s football
The Women’s World Cup kicks off on Thursday. The former England star Karen Carney discusses why this is an opportunity for investment that the sport cannot afford to miss
Cartoon of the day | Daniel Christie
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
There is a plot of land between the Tabin and Kulamba wildlife reserves in Borneo where wildlife should have roamed freely across the two parks. Instead, there were electric fences protecting a swathe of palm oil plantations, stopping animals from interacting. When conservationist Robert Risch noticed this in 2011 he was dismayed. “I found elephant tracks coming from Tabin following the river to the north until they reached the electric fence. Then the tracks turned around back to Tabin,” says Risch.
In 2019, his organisation, the Rhino and Forest Fund (RFF), bought 65 hectares of land and gave it to the Sabah forestry department for conservation. It was the first dry land connection between the two reserves in decades, providing wildlife with an 800m-wide corridor, large enough for elephants. As soon as the fence came down, animals found their way to each other’s reserves and were reunited with their species. This is no small feat considering the land in these areas is expensive because of the high levels of palm oil. Within three years, the restoration site was – for the first time – home to orangutans, proboscis monkeys, red leaf monkeys and a rare Storm’s stork.
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
