In a significant blow to India’s chances of winning medals at the Commonwealth Games, essential sports like hockey, badminton, wrestling, cricket, and shooting will not be featured in the 2026 edition hosted by Glasgow. The host city revealed a revised list of 10 disciplines aimed at keeping the event budget-friendly.
To further streamline costs and logistics, table tennis, squash, and triathlon will also be excluded, as the entire event will take place across just four venues. The overall number of events will decrease by nine compared to the 2022 Birmingham edition.
Scheduled from July 23 to August 2, this will mark Glasgow’s return as host after 12 years. The sports program will include Athletics and Para Athletics (Track & Field), Swimming and Para Swimming, Artistic Gymnastics, Track Cycling and Para Track Cycling, Netball, Weightlifting and Para Powerlifting, Boxing, Judo, Bowls and Para Bowls, as well as 3×3 Basketball and 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball, the Commonwealth Games Federation announced.
The Games will utilize four venues: Scotstoun Stadium, Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Emirates Arena (which houses the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome), and the Scottish Event Campus (SEC). Athletes and their support staff will stay in hotels nearby.
This reduced roster significantly hampers India’s medal prospects, especially since many of its past victories came in the omitted sports. Shooting was expected to remain absent after its omission from the Birmingham Games four years ago, primarily due to logistical issues.
The CGF highlighted that “Glasgow 2026 will feature a 10-sport programme concentrated across four venues within an eight-mile corridor.” This decision ruled out shooting, considering the Barry Buddon centre in Dundee—used during the 2014 Games—is over 100km from Glasgow. Archery has also been left out, having last appeared in the 2010 Delhi Games.
Key venues like Glasgow Green and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, which hosted hockey and wrestling in 2014, are no longer included. The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, which hosted badminton at that time, will only be used for cycling this edition.
Moreover, hockey’s exclusion could be influenced by its scheduling, being close to the World Cup set for August 15 to 30 in Wavre, Belgium, and Amstelveen, Netherlands. Originally, the Australian state of Victoria was to host the 2026 Games but withdrew last year due to escalating costs, leading Scotland to step in.
The lack of hockey represents a significant setback for India, whose men’s team has a history of three silver and two bronze medals, while the women’s team has also excelled, securing three medals, including a historic gold in 2002.
India has won an impressive 31 badminton medals—10 gold, eight silver, and 13 bronze—and was set to enter the 2026 edition as defending champions in men’s and women’s singles and men’s doubles. In shooting, India boasts a remarkable 135 medals, including 63 golds, 44 silvers, and 28 bronzes, while wrestling has delivered 114 medals (49 gold, 39 silver, and 26 bronze).
After its reintroduction in 2022, the Indian women’s cricket team secured a silver medal. Para-athletes will remain an integral part of the Games, with six Para sports included in the event program for 2026.
The CGF noted that the Games would bring over £100 million in “inward investment into the city” and add an estimated £150 million in economic value to the region. The organization emphasized that this would be achievable through a model designed to avoid public funding for the Games’ delivery.
“The 2026 Games will serve as a bridge to the future Commonwealth Games—an exciting first step towards reshaping the Games into a collaborative, flexible, and sustainable model, aiming to minimize costs, lessen environmental impact, and enhance social effects,” stated CGF CEO Katie Sadleir in a press release.
