2030 Commonwealth Games in India to feature 17 sports as Ahmedabad plans low-cost hosting model

Seventeen sports will feature at the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Ahmedabad, which is set to be staged at around 60 per cent lower cost than previous editions as part of the Commonwealth Sport’s revamped hosting model, CEO Katie Sadleir said on Monday.

The 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, scheduled to begin next month, will be a scaled-down edition featuring 10 able-bodied and six para sports in an effort to deliver a more cost-effective event. However, the programme will expand significantly for the 2030 Games in Ahmedabad.

“We will be going back up to a programme of 17 sports in Ahmedabad,” Sadleir said. “And we’re currently working with the Indian Olympic Committee and the Government of India to work through that programme. So, it will go back up,” she added.

Glasgow stepped in to host the 2026 Games after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew in July 2023 because of escalating costs and budget concerns.

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As part of its ‘Games Reset’ principles, Commonwealth Sport has sought to drastically reduce hosting costs from the levels seen at previous editions.

“60 per cent is part of our reimagined reset for the future, and it’s definitely where we’re pitching Ahmedabad. Glasgow has done a spectacular job at making a significant reduction on 60 per cent from the Birmingham Games,” Sadleir said.

To put the cost-cutting into perspective, the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games cost approximately 780 million pounds, while the 2026 Glasgow edition is expected to be delivered for around 160 million pounds.

“We’ve gone from what was a 780 million-pound Games in Birmingham in 2022, to 160 million-pound Games in Glasgow in 2026,” Chief Executive Officer of the Glasgow 2026 Organising Company, Phil Batty, said.

Batty added that Glasgow’s cost-effective model has been built around the city’s existing infrastructure and sustainability goals.

Sadleir said the more sustainable and affordable hosting model has generated greater interest among potential host nations.

“This evolution and reimagining and innovation in terms of our games was critical for us. We made a statement that we wanted to take the Commonwealth Games around the Commonwealth, not to just have it bounce back and forth between the members that could afford a very large-scale event.

“And what this has shown, by working with the event expertise in Glasgow, is (that) it drove a significant interest in terms of the hosting pipeline process that we went through for 2030 and 2034, which we haven’t started in 2031.

“But we know now that because we’ve made these changes, that hosts are saying, ‘hey, we can do this, this is doable’,” she added.