The decision by the Commonwealth Games Federation to reduce the number of permanent sports in the four-yearly event from 26 to just two may have set alarm bells ringing at the headquarters of several international governing bodies this week, writes David Barrett.
On the face of it, what appears to be a radical new direction for the ‘Friendly Games’ may signal the only sustainable way forward, in an era when cities are thinking increasingly carefully about bidding to host for multi-sports events. This will be cold comfort for some administrators.
In making the announcement, with only athletics and swimming to remain as compulsory sports, the CGF revealed that discussions were ongoing with potential host cities for the 2026 games, who had asked to remain confidential. In doing so, they may have given the games away (pun intended).
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David Barrett is a research fellow at the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University
The Commonwealth Games would be crazy to ditch a popular sport like hockey. What would be far more sensible would be to play the games at existing venues and not insisting on laying down multiple water based pitches
I think all multi sports events like the Olympics should do a similar thing. If a sport cannot generate enough attention, it does not deserve a place in sporting events. This will also force these unpopular sports to take measures to make their sport more interesting.
Hockey, take note.