Far from a Commonwealth Games finale, Craig Phillips feels Glasgow 2026 could secure the future of the event.
Australia's Commonwealth Games boss Phillips said he was "delighted" with confirmation from the Scottish government that Glasgow would step in to host the next edition.
Funded by compensation paid by the Victorian government, which pulled out last year citing spiralling costs, Glasgow will be the site of a pared-down event with only 10 sports, reduced from the 19 in Birmingham, England, in 2022.
The dates of the Games are still to be confirmed.
"We're delighted for our athletes, knowing that there's some certainty around where they will go in 2026," Phillips said on Wednesday.
"We know how important the Commonwealth Games are to many of our athletes."
Victoria paid $380 million in compensation to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), of which $200 million will be directed to Scotland to cover its hosting costs.
That figure will be topped up by $4.5 million from Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) to cover security.
When Glasgow last hosted in 2014 there were 17 sports and the event cost was about $1 billion - Birmingham's budget was nearly double that in 2022.
Only athletics and swimming are locked in for Glasgow, with Phillips saying the other sports were still to be finalised.
The 2026 Games will be staged at four existing venues, have low-cost opening and closing ceremonies and no athletes’ village.
That points towards track cycling, rugby sevens, badminton, boxing, judo, table tennis, gymnastics, netball or weightlifting being on the short-list to join athletics and swimming.
Cricket, reintroduced at the 2022 Games, is likely to be axed. Hockey could be another big casualty.
Phillips said that as Australia was no longer hosting, the CGA wouldn't have a say in which sports would be part of the program.
"The 10 sports on the program, that's still being worked through between Commonwealth Games Scotland and the CGF as to what that finally looks like," he said.
"The only sports that are really guaranteed are athletics and swimming, because they are core sports on the program and the rest will flow from there, based on the venues to be used.
"A number of our sports are obviously anxious to see whether they're on the program, but of course we've not been able to tell them, it's not our decision as to what's on the program or what's not."
Currently funding 22 sports which had been slated to be a part of the Victorian Games, he said it was too early to say how that would change for sports cut from Glasgow.
"Once we get a confirmed program, we will then work with our member sports in terms of how they stay as part of our family, because we want them to stay part of our family, regardless of whether they're on the program," he said.
"Many of them are also Olympic and Paralympic sports so while they may miss out on the Commonwealth Games competition, they'll still have their pathway through Brisbane in 2032."
While critics might suggest the smaller multi-event model signalled the Commonwealth Games were on their last legs, Phillips felt differently and believed it meant more countries could host in future.
"This revised version of the Games, the pared-back, more sustainable version, it will actually create more opportunities for more countries in the Commonwealth to actually host the Games," he said.
"I'm sure they'll start to make their way back around the Commonwealth again into the future."
Phillips was asked if he had any lingering anger towards the Victorian government for pulling the pin on the event.
"Our focus on the future, looking after athletes ... we haven't really got time to look back," he said.
