Commentary: Singapore's decision to forgo the 2026 Commonwealth Games bid was smart

SINGAPORE: I must admit to being relieved when Commonwealth Games Singapore (CGS) and Sport Singapore (SportSG) announced on Apr 3 that they had decided against making a bid to host the next edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2026. No reasons were given for the decision.

Earlier, in March, CGS and SportSG had confirmed that Singapore was “assessing the feasibility” of an invitation from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) to stage the quadrennial event.

Multi-sport events like the Commonwealth Games rarely do as well as single-sport marquee events like the Rugby Sevens and the Formula 1 night race.

Moreover, the Commonwealth Games is in search of relevance, unlike the Asian Games and the Olympic Games. Until its relevance is clear, hosting the Commonwealth Games is a “poisoned chalice” that I thought we would do well to not be the proverbial fools rushing in where angels fear to tread. Admittedly, I was concerned about hubris that Singapore could be the go-to destination.

In December 2023, the Singapore Sports Hub marked the first full year of its handover from the private consortium that had been running the facility since 2014 to the government. It announced a 30 per cent increase in sports, entertainment and lifestyle event days compared to 2019.

Kallang Alive Sport Management (KASM), the corporate entity established by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and SportSG to manage the S$1.33 billion facility (US$977 million), hailed the “strong pipeline” of events in 2023 as a key factor to this growth.

Such events included sold-out concerts by international artistes such as K-pop group Blackpink and Hong Kong singer-actor Jacky Cheung. In fact, the “God of Songs” Cheung set a record for the most shows by an