India has been impacted by its medal chances in the 2026 Commonwealth Games (CWG) because it will host fewer sports than ever before in its history. Scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 2 in Glasgow, the 23rd edition of this event will comprise only 10 sports in an attempt to maintain budget efficiency.
Major Sports To Be Excluded
Such disappointment is not the first for the CGF, as it has since confirmed that major sports, in which Indian athletes have normally featured, will be absent from the agenda of Glasgow 2026. These include hockey, badminton, shooting, and wrestling. This year’s schedule declined from the 19 sports contested at the 2022 Birmingham edition. Cricket, table tennis, squash, and road racing were also excluded.
Glasgow To Host
This will be the city’s second time hosting the Commonwealth Games, and it will be 12 years since the 2014 one. The city took over the Games after Victoria pulled out of the hosting, citing financial stress, which pushed Glasgow to win the rights to the quadrennial multisports event.
Sports Confirmed For Glasgow 2026
The CGF has confirmed the multi-sport program for the event, which will include:
Track and Field: Athletics and Para Athletics
Swimming and Para Swimming
Artistic Gymnastics
Track Cycling and Para Track Cycling
Netball
Weightlifting and Para Powerlifting
Boxing
Judo
Bowls and Para Bowls
3×3 Basketball and 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball
The events of this sport will be held in four venues: Scotstoun Stadium, Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Emirates Arena which includes the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, and the Scottish Event Campus (SEC). However, athletes and their coaches will be accommodated in hotels.
Budgetary Reductions Consequences
Though the CGF did not provide clear reasons to explain the exclusion of cricket and other sports, CEO Katie Sadleir said that the 2026 Games is the event where action will be taken to redefine the shared model, flexible, and sustainable to reduce costs and carbon footprint. This means financial considerations form a real reason behind the reduction in the number of sports for 2026 and further games.
Changing Cricket Landscape
Cricket, which featured first time since 1998 in CWG, is glaringly missing from the 2026 schedule. In 2022, the women’s T20 event was won by Australia; India was the silver medal winner. Cricket has gained momentum in Asian Games too as India won gold in both men’s and women’s T20 formats at the Hangzhou 2022 edition that happened in 2023.
This sport is going to be back at the Olympics in 2028, in Los Angeles: men’s and women’s T20, for the first time in 128 years. That was decided in an International Olympic Committee session in Mumbai last October.
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