King Charles III places his message into the Commonwealth baton which is held by Kadeena Cox during the launch of the Commonwealth Sport King's Baton Relay, officially starting the countdown towards the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games at Buckingham Palace, London. March 10, 2025. Jonathan Brady/Pool via REUTERS
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia is highly unlikely to bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030 as it is too close to the country staging the Summer Olympics in Brisbane two years later, a top official said.
The Scottish city of Glasgow will host a pared down version of the Games next year and expressions of interest are being sought for the centenary edition of the multi-sports gathering of mainly former British colonies in 2030.
"Realistically for us, '30 is not on our radar," Australian Commonwealth Games Association chief executive Craig Phillips told the Australian Associated Press.
"If a government put their hand up and said 'We want to do it', we would certainly talk to them, but we're not really pursuing it.
"We think '30 is just a bit too close when you look at what is required from commercial partners, what is required from various levels of government. It becomes a little bit challenging with an Olympics and Paralympics coming."
The 2026 Commonwealth Games were supposed to take place in Victoria but the Australian state pulled out in 2022 because of escalating costs.
It was the second consecutive Games that the original hosts did not end up staging the event after the South African city of Durban was replaced by Birmingham, England for the 2022 edition after running into financial problems.
Australia has already hosted the quadrennial Games twice this century and has topped the medals table at every edition since 1990, barring 2014 when England took the honours in Glasgow.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, Editing by Stephen Coates)
