Just 10 disciplines at the 2026 Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow from July 23 to August 2 is bad news for Indian sports. After Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Chris Jenkins came to India recently and met Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha, it became well known that the Glasgow Games would be a condensed affair. In one swoop the Glasgow Games hosts knocked off cricket, badminton, hockey and wrestling from the programme, and it hits India badly. Reactions have started to come from athletes at home but nothing can be done about it.
As Indian men’s hockey team coach Craig Fulton said: “It is what it is.” That’s the best way to sum it up. Officially, India had written a protest letter last week to the CWG hosts when they got to know major disciplines were being removed. But then, nothing could be done about it as the event is held after financial support had been promised in substantial sums from Victoria State in Australia. They had refused to host the CWG in 2023 and for the CGF, it had become embarrassing as no nation wanted to host it.
Glasgow was finally chosen as the host after hectic parlays and a promise that the Games would not cause financial distress. In fact, it was surprising, Jenkins came to India and started speaking about the 2030 edition of the CWG which needs to be hosted by more than one nation. There are just no takers for these Games.
From the Indian athletes’ point of view, a reduction in events and important disciplines being knocked off will hit the medal tally for sure. In 2018, when the CWG was hosted by Gold Coast, Australia, India won 66 medals. Four years later, in Birmingham, the medal tally came down to 61, of which 12 were from wrestling alone. India did win medals in athletics (8) in Birmingham, despite Neeraj Chopra’s absence. Indian boxers won seven medals and badminton provided six medals.
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A definite reduction in India’s projected medal tally in Glasgow is just one part of the story. There are some sports like weightlifting where India has no depth at all. Mirabai Chanu has been part of Indian campaigns for so long, there is no new face who can be showcased by the Indian federation. Solid work has to begin now. Maybe, it will make sense for the sports federations which still have a role to play in Indian sports vis-a-vis the 2026 CWG to get back to the drawing board and chalk out details. More time is being wasted on the IOA politics at present, which has come in for flak even from the IOC (International Olympic Committee).
There is already heartburn among some Indian athletes who will not participate in Glasgow. A similar situation had arisen after the highs of the 2018 Gold Coast CWG, when Birmingham said it will not keep shooting in the programme. India protested, threatening to pull out even. However, all that was just tough posturing. If anyone says India should protest at the exclusion of key sporting disciplines, it will be meaningless. It is well known, Glasgow has finalised the Games plan with enormous budget constraints. The more drastic view would be to scrap the CWG, but if that be the case, India would not have been cozying up to the CGF bosses in New Delhi just after the Paris Olympics. It is also believed the CGF bosses are even looking at India as part hosts of the 2030 Games, though it is not on record.
Viewed from another angle, the CWG has served as a precursor to the Asian Games for India. In 2022, the situation was different as Hangzhou had postponed the Asian Games due to the Covid pandemic to 2023. India did compete in the Birmingham CWG where the women’s cricket team won a silver medal. Cricket has been junked by Glasgow, though it will be a medal sport at the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles.
Ideally, those who plan sports in India need to accept the reality of Glasgow and plan for the 2024 Asian Games in Nagoya as well. There are 22 months to prepare for and it will be defining. From the 2026 Asian Games to 2028 LA, there will be need for more detailing and to see how India can win quota places. Rather than crying over what Glasgow has done, Indian sports needs to stay positive.