KUALA LUMPUR: Sports Commissioner Suhardi Alias believes it would not be a wise move for Malaysia to step in to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Suhardi said he anticipated the cost to organise the games here to range between RM1 billion, for a basic event, and RM13 billion.
The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) yesterday confirmed that Malaysia has been offered the job by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which includes the promise of a £100 million (RM602 million) investment to support local delivery and legacy planning for the event.
"The amount is too small to organise a multi-sport competition as big as the Commonwealth Games," said Suhardi.
"Based on the average estimated expenses for Birmingham (UK) and Victoria (Australia), we could see organising costs to hold the event here ranging from over RM1 billion, for a smaller scale event, right up to a maximum of RM13 billion.
"The fact that Victoria was willing to pay so much in compensation to let go of the event says a lot. I am not sure why we are so keen to take on something that other people don't want.
"We also have to see what happened to Birmingham after it hosted the games despite being advised against doing it."
Suhardi said he felt compelled to speak about the issue as he did not want Malaysia to suffer consequences in the future.
Original host Victoria, Australia, withdrew last year citing escalating costs, which is expected to reach up to A$7 billion (RM21.7 billion). It also reportedly agreed to pay A$380 million (RM1.1 billion) to the CGF for breach of contract.
Birmingham, the United Kingdom, hosted the games in 2022 for a reported £778 million (RM4.67 billion). The Birmingham city council has since gone bankrupt. Hosting the 2022 games has, among other issues, been blamed.
Suhardi said he would rather see money being spent on boosting the sporting ecosystem in Malaysia.
"I think it would be more beneficial if we channelled the money to all 103 national sports associations and national para sports associations.
"If we take RM1 billion, for example, each association would receive roughly RM10 million each, which they can use to run development and training programmes.
"This would boost the sporting ecosystem in the country."
On Saturday, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the cabinet would make a decision on whether Malaysia would declare interest in hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games soon.
Malaysia is confirmed as the host of the 2027 Sea Games.
