Explainer: Cricket, hockey, wrestling, shooting, badminton… India’s favorite sports were removed from the Commonwealth Games, is there some conspiracy somewhere…

New Delhi. Many sports in which India has dominated have been removed from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026. These sports include cricket, hockey, wrestling, shooting, badminton. Apart from these, events of table tennis, squash and triathlon have also been removed from Glasgow 2026. This is a big blow to India’s hopes of winning a medal in the Commonwealth Games 2026. After the removal of these sports, there was a discussion among sports lovers whether such sports in which India has been winning medals were deliberately removed or is there some reason. The biggest question is why these sports were removed from the Glasgow Games 2026.

Gold Coast withdrew from hosting
Sports lovers know that in 2026, Glasgow has to host the Commonwealth Games from 23 July to 2 August. Glasgow has accepted hosting the Commonwealth Games in an emergency situation. Reason: Earlier, these games were to be organized by the Australian city of Gold Coast, which suddenly stepped back after winning the hosting rights. Gold Coast said in April 2022 that the budget for the Games had become so high that it could no longer be held.

Hastily found another host
After the refusal of the Australian city of Gold Coast, a hasty search for the new host of the 23rd Commonwealth Games began. Meanwhile, for several months the situation was such that the Commonwealth Games might have to be postponed for a year. No big country included in the Commonwealth countries came forward to host. After this, Scotland took the initiative and saved the Games from being postponed till 2027.

Consensus reached on holding 10 games
It was agreed to hold the 2026 Commonwealth Games in the Scottish city of Glasgow. But here too there was a difficulty. Making arrangements for accommodation, food and play for thousands of players in such a short time was not an easy task. Budget was also an issue. Scotland had already made it clear that it would not spend beyond a limit. For this reason, not only today, but even two years ago it was decided that when the Games would be held in Scotland, many sports would be removed. It was also decided that this time there would be only 10 games. 10 games that are more traditional. Glasgow also hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Why were only cricket or hockey removed?
In the Commonwealth Games, the host has the right to remove or include some sports. For this the host needs to take consent from at least 3 countries. Usually hosts remove those games which are not very popular or in which they are weak. Taking the example of cricket, Scotland has been playing it for years, but at the same time it knows that its team cannot win medals. In such a situation, he/she would not have had to think much in removing Cricket.

Another thing is that by removing cricket or hockey, the hosts of the Glasgow Games have reduced their expenses significantly. Cricket and hockey are team games. Usually there are 20 to 25 members in a team. If both men’s and women’s categories were combined, then at least 12 cricket teams and 20 hockey teams would have participated in the Glasgow Games. That is, by removing just these two sports, the organizers reduced the number of players and staff in the Glasgow Games by 600. The biggest reason for removing wrestling, badminton, tennis and shooting is that Scotland has little to no chances of winning medals in these sports. The bottom line is that there is no reason for India to win medals in the sports which have been removed. There are only two reasons for this – firstly reducing the budget and secondly the prerogative of the host as to which sports he/she wants to include and which he/she wants to remove.

tag: Commonwealth Games