Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones "has appeared to rule out the possibility of Wales hosting the Commonwealth Games on cost grounds," according to Liz Perkins of the SOUTH WALES EVENING POST. Jones said that "they would have to start investing in sport now, and although in principle he would like to stage the event it would have a mammoth cost." He said, "The cost is huge -- we are talking billions to bring in the Commonwealth Games. Look at what Glasgow has done and you’re looking at a redevelopment project. You can use the Commonwealth Games to regenerate somewhere urban. You’d have to build an athletics stadium and who uses it afterwards? In principle, yes, I would like to have them in Wales, but the cost is too prohibitive." Jones also said that he believed the hosting of the Olympics and football World Cup was "beyond us" although Wales had held the Ryder Cup and Rugby World Cup previously (SOUTH WALES EVENING POST, 5/26).
LOOKING BEYOND: WALES ONLINE's Robin Turner reported Swansea East AM Mike Hedges "believes the city has the qualities to host the prestigious event and could be given the finances to do so." Hedges said that if Wales was given a Barnett Formula (the mechanism used to adjust public expenditure for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) type allocation to host the games "it would amount to 5.5%" of the estimated £9B it cost to put on the London Olympics.
He said it would give a city like Swansea almost £500M ($768M) to host the Commonwealth Games. The Welsh Government "is currently undertaking a feasibility study into the possibility of a 2026 games bid from Wales with sites across Wales, including Cardiff, all being looked at" (WALES ONLINE, 5/26).