KUALA LUMPUR: The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) revealed that Malaysia’s request to host the badminton event in conjunction with the 2026 Commonwealth Games was rejected by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). OCM Secretary-General Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin Najib said Malaysia proposed that the sport, which has been a medal stronghold for the country, be held concurrently with the other 10 sports set by the host, Glasgow, Scotland, from July 23 to August 2, 2026.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the request was declined by CGF, necessitating Malaysia’s acceptance of the 10 sports determined by the host. Mohd Nazifuddin shared this information after the 211th OCM meeting and the 43rd OCM General Assembly.
Badminton is among the sports excluded from the 2026 Commonwealth Games to reduce hosting costs. Only 10 sports will be featured across four venues within a 12.8-kilometre radius compared to the 19 sports at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. Approximately 3,000 athletes from 74 Common
wealth countries and territories are expected to participate.
The sports listed for the 2026 Games include athletics and para athletics, swimming and para swimming, artistic gymnastics, track cycling and para track cycling, netball, weightlifting and powerlifting, boxing, judo, bowling and para bowling, 3×3 basketball, and wheelchair 3×3 basketball.
Glasgow, hosting the event for the second time after the 2014 edition, stepped in after Malaysia declined to replace Victoria, Australia, which withdrew in July last year due to escalating hosting costs.
Meanwhile, Mohd Nazifuddin stated that withdrawing the national contingent from the 2026 Commonwealth Games would not be prudent. Instead, Malaysia is expected to send a smaller group of athletes to compete in Glasgow.
Additionally, he mentioned that the Chef de Mission to the 2024 Paris Olympics, Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin, expressed disappointment over Malaysia’s failure to secure its first gold medal in his report to OCM president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria
.
OCM plans to hold a post-mortem meeting on the 2024 Olympics with the National Sports Council this Thursday. Malaysia concluded its campaign at the 2024 Paris Olympics with two bronze medals in badminton, won by the 2022 men’s doubles world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and professional men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia.