Competitive gaming will not be a medal event in the 2026 Commonwealth Games, after a surprise U-turn.
Esports was a pilot event at the 2022 Birmingham Games, co-funded by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and the Global Esports Federation (GEF).
And the CGF called this a success, with its president saying she expected it to be included “going forward”.
But the organisers of the 2026 Games, in Victoria, Australia, say esports will not feature.
The CGF and GEF, the 2026 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee refused to give any specific reasons for the U-turn.
One person close to the discussions said doping in esports may have been a factor with concerns that arranging year-round drugs testing across the various gaming titles could proved problematic.
“Everything was looking great after Birmingham and it seemed like esports would make history in Victoria,” another insider said.
“We have no idea why the committee rejected it, as they won’t say.
“Doping could have been a factor but also there was a lot of general resistance to esports from more traditional, older members of the Games nation groups.