2026 Commonwealth Games unlikely to boost health of Scots – SportScotland chief

The 2026 Commonwealth Games is unlikely to result in a boost to the nation’s health, the chief executive of SportScotland has said.

Forbes Dunlop told MSPs he does not think Glasgow hosting the Games will see an uptick in physical activity levels across the country.

Glasgow was announced last year as the host of the Games after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out due to rising costs.

The event will be slimmed down compared to Glasgow’s 2014 Games, featuring only 10 sports.

On Monday, First Minister John Swinney said the event will bring “huge economic benefits” to Glasgow and could “also inspire the public to be more active, try a new sport, or join a local sports club – contributing to our vision of a more active Scotland”.

But doubts were raised at Holyrood’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee on Tuesday about whether the Games will encourage Scots to get healthier.

Mr Dunlop said: “I don’t think hosting the 26 Games in Glasgow in just over a year’s time is going to see a particular uptick in physical activity levels or health of the nation.

“I don’t think that £120 million investment into that particular Games is going to see that given the context of everything else we’ve talked about today.

“I think some of the more stubborn and substantial challenges that sit at a local and national level are the things that would need to change.”

The SportScotland chief said the “evidence was clear” that the hosting of the Games alone will not improve the nation’s health.

He went on: “That’s not to say that there won’t be some very positive impacts of the 26 Games, and I know a number of the governing bodies who are involved in the Games, they’re having conversations about how they can maximize and take the opportunity that the profile from home games will give them.

“Whether that’s an impact at the population level, I think is questionable.”

Official figures released a year after the 2014 Commonwealth Games found there had been almost no change in physical activity levels in Scotland following that event, which cost £540 million to stage.

The Scottish Government has said public funding is not needed for next year’s event – which will run from Thursday, July 23, to Sunday, August 2.