Ahmedabad to host 2030 Centenary Commonwealth Games

Ahmedabad has pledged to "lay the foundation" for the next 100 years of the Commonwealth Games after the Indian city was formally named as host of the 2030 Centenary Games on Wednesday.

Ahmedabad won approval from the Commonwealth Sport membership at the 2025 General Assembly in Glasgow.

The city, also known as Amdavad in the western state of Gujarat, was officially ratified by the 74 Commonwealth member nations after being recommended last month by Commonwealth Sport’s evaluation committee ahead of Abuja, Nigeria.

Commonwealth officials revealed on Wednesday that there were originally five nations interested in hosting the Games.

The 2030 Games will also feature 15 to 17 sports, marking an increase from the 10 scheduled for next year's pared-down version in Glasgow, including athletics, swimming, table tennis, bowls, and weightlifting – along with their Para-sport counterparts – plus artistic gymnastics, netball, and boxing.

Sports also under consideration include archery, badminton, 3x3 basketball, beach volleyball, T20 cricket, cycling, diving, hockey, judo, rhythmic gymnastics, rugby sevens, shooting, squash, triathlon, and wrestling.

Ahmedabad will also have the option to propose up to two new or traditional sports for the October 2030 event, scheduled to accommodate seasonal weather conditions.

The process to finalise the rest of the programme will start next month and the full lineup will be announced next year.

'FOUNDATION FOR THE NEXT CENTURY'

"The 2030 Games will not only celebrate a hundred years of the Commonwealth Movement but also lay the foundation for the next century," said P.T. Usha, President of the Commonwealth Games Association of India.

"It will bring together athletes, communities, and cultures from across the Commonwealth in a spirit of friendship and progress.”

The 2030 Games will commemorate 100 years since the inaugural event in Hamilton, Canada. The North American country was expected to be in the running but did not bid.

India, the world's most populous nation, hosted the Commonwealth Games for the first time in Delhi in 2010.

However, it faced criticism around construction delays and cost overruns. Ahmedabad organisers, on the other hand, plan to use mostly existing venues with minor modifications.

"2030 will be 20 years, the world has significantly evolved since then," Donald Rukare, President of Commonwealth Sport, said. "There's been a lot of learning from the experience in 2010."

Glasgow is staging the Games next year after the Australian state of Victoria, the original host, pulled out citing escalating costs.

In April 2024, Singapore also decided not to bid on the 2026 Games after reviewing the feasibility of hosting, leaving the event without a confirmed host less than two years before it was scheduled to take place.

"When Singapore (changed their mind), there was a dark cloud with the situation at that point. We were very close to saying: what's the future of the Commonwealth movement? Commonwealth sport? The stepping up of Glasgow was a game-changer, being able to step up at a critical time of our movement when there was a lot of uncertainty," Rukare said.

"This is the start of a new golden era for Commonwealth Sport," he added. "After a 'Games reset' we head to Glasgow 2026 in fantastic shape to welcome the 74 teams of the Commonwealth before setting our sights on Amdavad 2030 for a special Centenary edition of the Commonwealth Games. We start our next century for the Commonwealth Games in good health."

Australia topped the medal table at the most recent Games, staged in Birmingham, England, in 2022, with England, Canada, India and New Zealand rounding out the top five.