The 2026 Commonwealth Games are in doubt after the Australian state of Victoria cancelled its plans to host due to budget blowouts.

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) struggled to find a host city before Victoria volunteered in April 2022. But the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday said the projected cost had now tripled and become “well and truly too much” for the State to bear.

Organisers had originally estimated the event – hosted across cities including Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat – would cost 2.6 billion Australian dollars and the state government had billed it as a boom for the regions.

But now the 12-day tournament was expected to cost more than 6 billion Australian dollars.

The Commonwealth Games have only ever been cancelled during World War Two.