The Australian state of Victoria announced Tuesday that it will host the 2026 Commonwealth Games with all sporting events taking place outside of its capital city of Melbourne.
The state’s premier Daniel Andrews praised the Commonwealth Games for embracing Victoria’s pitch for the event, admitting that “it’s a bit riskier than just running it in the middle of a large city".
The Games will be held in four regional “hubs" across the towns of Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Gippsland, each with a separate athletes’ village.
It will be the sixth time that Australia has hosted the Commonwealth Games and the second time in Victoria, after the 2006 event which was centred on Melbourne.
Premier Andrews said the 2026 Commonwealth Games were expected to bring a “$3 billion boost to the Victorian economy", which had to weather long lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games are due to be held in Birmingham, England, from July 28 to August 8.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)