By Victor Kanayo
The Scottish government is pushing for a deal for Glasgow to host the Commonwealth Games in 2026.
According to report, Health Secretary Neil Gray is set to hold talks with Commonwealth Games Australia.
The Australian state of Victoria withdrew as 2026 hosts due to rising costs.
It comes after Australian authorities promised “a multi-million pound investment” to help finalise Glasgow’s offer to rescue the multi-sport event.
Glasgow, which hosted the games in 2014, is now close to confirming a scaled down event featuring fewer sports.
Health Secretary Neil Gray told BBC Scotland News that it was “more likely” now that Scotland would host the 2026 games than when discussions began, but warned that they would be different from when Glasgow previously hosted the event.
He told BBC Radio’s Good Morning programme: “Reputationally my worry and the government’s worry has always been that there is going to be a comparison with the incredibly successful 2014 games, which by any stretch of the imagination both in terms of the performances, the spectacle that it was and the legacy, were going to be hard to match.
“But I’m hopeful that if we are able to recognise that if we are to go ahead, this is a different games, this is a smaller event.
“Fewer sports across fewer sites but with good collaboration we could see something coming forward that is still positive for Glasgow and for Scotland.”
He said discussions were ongoing and stressed that “making sure there is no financial risks to the government is critically important”.
The UK government last week assured the Scottish government that no public money would be required to stage the games.
