There will be no call on public purse to fund Glasgow Games – Swinney

The Scottish Government cannot and will not provide extra funding for the Glasgow-based Commonwealth Games if it is required, John Swinney has said.

The First Minister spoke at an event in the city on Tuesday as the sports to be contested at the scaled-back 2026 event were announced.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr Swinney said the Government has secured assurances that the cost of the event will be met through funding from the Commonwealth Games Foundation and Commonwealth Games Australia, after the state of Victoria pulled out as host.

Ministers have been candid about the dire state of the financial situation in Scotland, with Finance Secretary Shona Robison forced to make £500 million of in-year cuts last month as a result.

The First Minister said: “I’ve been very clear with the public that there are huge pressures on the public finances, so there could not be a call on the public finances for any financial support.

“We have secured assurance on both the preparatory time and also on the control of costs, that there will be no call on the public purse and, indeed, there cannot be a call on the public purse by the agreement that we have negotiated.

“I am confident the public purse is protected.”

While he accepted the “tough times” financially, Mr Swinney said it is important to “celebrate excellence”, while touting the estimated £100 million in inward investment the Games will bring to Scotland’s biggest city.

The funding provided, Mr Swinney added, will also cover the cost of policing.

The Scottish Police Federation previously raised concerns about how the security of the Games would be funded, but Mr Swinney said: “These are costs that are implicit in the funding of the Commonwealth Games and it’s important that those costs are met from within that budget.”

The new “slimmed-down” programme, the First Minister said, could also inform how future Games are hosted, claiming the event “has got to change if it’s going to go forward in future years” and describing the previous model seen in Glasgow in 2014 of a massive event “has probably had its day”.

The Games will feature a 10-sport programme across four venues within an eight-mile corridor, with more than 500,000 tickets made available for spectators.

Athletics and swimming are included as compulsory sports for 2026 while there will also be track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and 3×3 basketball.

There will also be integrated para events in six of those sports – athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, bowls and basketball.

Among the sports missing out compared to the 2022 Games in Birmingham are triathlon, diving, hockey, T20 cricket, squash, badminton and rugby sevens.

Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Ian Reid said it was not easy to decide which sports to include.

He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “I think everybody recognises that these events need to be more affordable, lighter and we would have loved to have all of our sports and all of our athletes competing but unfortunately it’s just not deliverable or affordable for this time frame.”