Australia's state of Victoria has abandoned plans to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games due to projected cost overruns, placing the future of the quadrennial multi-sport event in doubt.

Victoria Premier Dan Andrews said the cost of the Games, which were to have been held in four regional hubs, could almost triple to $4.8 billion from the original budget if they went ahead.

The sporting event for mostly former British colonies has struggled to remain relevant, with five of the last six editions held in Australia or Britain.

English city Birmingham stepped in to host the 2022 Games after South Africa was stripped of them in 2017 over a lack of progress in preparations.

Victoria put its hand up for 2026 last year when no other countries showed interest.

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"Frankly A$6-A$7 billion for a 12-day sporting event, we're not doing that," Andrews said at a media conference on Tuesday.

"I will not take money out of hospitals and schools to fund an event that is three times the cost as estimated and budgeted for last year."

Andrews said Victoria had yet to work out the cost of breaking its contract with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), the global governing body.

The CGF said it had eight hours' notice of the decision and were offered no consideration to work on solutions with Victoria.

"This is hugely disappointing for the Commonwealth Sport Movement, for athletes ... and the Organising Committee who are well advanced in their planning and preparation," the CGF said in a statement. "We are taking advice on the options available to us."

Victoria officials had talked up legacy benefits from new infrastructure in regional areas and an economic boost of more than A$3 billion.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), which had spoken of 2026 as a "runway" for hosting the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, said it was "an enormous disappointment" for the athletes.

A cooling of enthusiasm from one of the Games' staunchest supporters bodes poorly for their future, with some suggesting that the event might not survive.

The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event, similar in style but smaller in scale to the Olympics, only featuring athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. It was first held (as the British Empire Games) in 1930 and has run ever since, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 when it was cancelled due to World War II. 

John Coates, an International Olympic Committee Vice-President and former AOC boss, said Sydney, which hosted the 2000 Olympics, should take on the 2026 Games.

However, the government of New South Wales state, of which Sydney is the capital, said it would decline any approach due to budgetary pressures. South Australia and Western Australia states also ruled out hosting.

The cost of the Games and their nebulous legacy benefits have long drawn skepticism, and even the CGF has conceded they must downsize to survive.

A bid for Canadian city Hamilton to host the 2030 Games collapsed in February after failure to secure government support.

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