Commonwealth games to be held in Victoria, Australia.

The government confirmed on Tuesday that Australia’s victoria state will host the 2026 commonwealth games.

Victorian  Premier Daniel Andrews and Commonwealth Games Federation president Dame Louise Martin made the announcement from Mars Stadium in Ballarat on Tuesday.

“I am absolutely delighted to announce the 2026 Commonwealth Games has been awarded to Victoria – well done,” Martin said.

Commonwealth Games organisers said 16 sports had so far been confirmed for the games, with more to be added later.

The initial plan for hosting events includes:

• Geelong — aquatics, beach volleyball, gymnastics, hockey, table tennis, triathlon
• Ballarat — athletics, boxing
• Bendigo — lawn bowls, netball, squash, weightlifting
• Gippsland — badminton, rugby sevens

The cricket T20 event will be held across all four centres, and the road cycling event will be between Gippsland and Bendigo.

Bendigo will also host lawn bowls, para lawn bowls, netball and squash.

Bendigo Bowls Club President Geoff Briggs said it was fantastic news for the town.

“Bendigo has really got the reputation of being the premier bowls location in regional Victoria,” he says.

Mr. Jochinke said other regions should be given the opportunity to upgrade and build facilities and accommodation.

“But also making sure accommodation in an already tight market can then be used post-games for low-cost accommodation, emergency housing or where the gaps are in those regions, If they are portable type, maybe those units can be picked up and taken around the regions where we need them.”, he said.

It will be the sixth time the Commonwealth Games has been held in Australia, with Sydney hosting in 1938, Perth in 1962, Brisbane in 1982, Melbourne in 2006, and the Gold Coast in 2018.

Birmingham in England will host the games later this year. It was originally meant to hold the event in 2026 but it was brought forward when the South African city of Durban defaulted as 2022 host.

Western Australia earlier pulled its plans to bid for the games, while New South Wales and South Australia did not indicate interest and Queensland is focused on the 2032 Olympics.