THE Scottish Secretary has accused a journalist of being “miserable” for asking if Glasgow was going to see any tangible benefit from hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2026.
After the city was formally confirmed as the host for the event on Tuesday, Ian Murray spoke to reporters at the SEC Armadillo where he was asked if Glasgow was simply being used to “save the blushes” of the Commonwealth Games Federation and the UK Government.
Scotland has stepped in to host a significantly scaled-back version of the sporting event in two years after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out due to rising costs.
In recent years, there has been a growing struggle to find willing countries across the Commonwealth to host the event, which the Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Katie Sadleir has admitted had become “too expensive”.
Since Glasgow hosted the Games in 2014, there has been concern many areas of the city have not felt a positive legacy on the back on it.
Asked if there were any tangible benefits Glaswegians could expect to see and feel this time around or if the city was simply being “used”, Murray dodged the question and simply called the reporter “miserable”.
“If you don’t mind me saying it’s a pretty miserable approach to say it’s just going to be stepping in for the sake of it,” said Murray.
“This is going to be a really exciting time for Glasgow and there’s infrastructure going to be put in place to make sure the stadia and the infrastructure that’s going to be used is up to scratch for that kind of elite sport and the spectators will absolutely love it.
Unlike the event in 2014, there will be no athletes village developed in the city with athletes being housed in hotels.
The 10 sports involved, meanwhile, will all be hosted in existing venues within an eight-mile corridor which include Scotstoun Stadium, the Emirates Arena/Sir Chris Hoy Velodome, Tollcross International Swimming Centre and the Scottish Events Campus.
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.
