KAJANG – The cabinet will soon decide whether Malaysia will register its interest in hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has said her ministry is preparing a cabinet paper encompassing the results of studies on various aspects of organising the event for the cabinet.
“I cannot comment on this matter (on being interested as host). We will submit all the study results to the cabinet for a decision. Need to wait.
“It’s not just financial, there are many factors that need to be looked at and studied, so I can’t comment. (The cabinet paper) is almost ready,” she said when asked if Malaysia was interested in hosting the Games.
She told reporters after officiating her ministry’s Women’s Day celebrations, and the launch of the Safe Sports Code video at Uniten here, today.
The fate of the 2026 Commonwealth Games remains in question after the Australian state Victoria, which was due to host, pulled out in July last year due to increased hosting costs from the initial expectation of A$2.6 billion (about RM8.09 billion). to A$7 billion.
Victoria’s government also reportedly agreed to pay A$380 million for breach of contract for failing to host the games as scheduled from March 17-29, 2026.
Of the 74 countries and territories that are members of the Commonwealth Games Federation, only England, Canada, Australia, Wales, New Zealand, Jamaica, Scotland, India and Malaysia (1998) have hosted the Games.
Meanwhile, Hannah said there had been a sudden increase in the involvement of women in the boards of agencies under her ministry.
“From 19% in 2022, we now have 30.6% women on the board of our agencies such as the National Sports Council, the National Sports Institute, the National Athlete Welfare Foundation and the Malaysian Stadium Corp,” she said. – March 9, 2024