The cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games by the Victorian State government has been met with a chorus of shrieking denunciations and condemnations by the conservative commentariat. Let’s leave Sky News commentators to scream their venom at this decision – there are more important subjects to talk about.

The Commonwealth Games – the rebadged Empire games – were about cementing cultural and sporting ties with the British empire. Colonialist in origin, the Commonwealth games were designed to promote a feel good narrative involving the colonised peoples of the now defunct empire. Australia, as an Anglo-origin outpost of Britain, has had an ambivalent relationship with the British empire. Aware of our status as a penal colony composed primarily of British rejects, we have bristled at the arrogance and pomposity of the effete British aristocracy. However, we are covetous of a greater place within the rebranded empire, the Commonwealth.

The British empire, in similar fashion to other empires, did not rely exclusively on brute force to maintain its rule. Yes, slavery, racism and exploitation are inherent features of the British empire’s expansion, but cultural ties were/are just as important. Promoting an ideology of empire loyalism gains the English ruling class recruits from among the ‘natives.’ Sport is a powerful factor in shaping identity; not for nothing did some empire loyalists suggest the creation of a British empire Olympic team, appealing to a narrow racial patriotism.

Constituting a supranational organisation, the Commonwealth (empire) games were a curious anomaly. Most sporting events involve geographically consistent entities – the Asian cup, African games and so on. Yes, the Olympics involve multiple nations, but they participate voluntarily. The British empire was not built on a voluntary basis. So while it may be sad for some to see the Commonwealth (empire) games reach obsolescence, it is hardly a cause of mourning among millions of people.

It is saddening to see the athletes and sportspersons, who have trained hard for so long, to have their hopes dashed with this cancellation. This does not blind us to the fact that the Commonwealth games are a faded relic from a long lost era of empire. Sean O’Grady, writing in the Independent, states that the Commonwealth games can be likened to an afternoon bacon sarnie – nice snack between meals, but won’t be missed once it is gone.

International sporting events are always a double-edged sword. Yes, they bring publicity, tourism and dollars to the host nation or city. However, they involve the demolition of local infrastructure purely for the international competition at hand; after all the competitors and fans have left, the stadiums and associated infrastructure become white elephants. The Olympics are the prime example of the putative benefits of hosting the event, being heavily outweighed by its post-event costing blowout.

There are no tears for the cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth (empire) games. The FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer however, is an exciting international sporting event for Australia. Hang on a minute….am I not being a hypocrite? Why celebrate the FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer, but welcome the demise of the Commonwealth Games?

The Commonwealth games were aggressively promoted by the sporting powers-that-be; never short of funding or publicity, the Commonwealth games has had an unending conveyor belt of financial and cultural support. The women’s soccer, and soccer in general, has had to fight for recognition and its very existence in Australia as a legitimate sport. Long stigmatised as the ‘ethnic’ football, or more crudely, the ‘wogball’, the hosting of the international women’s soccer marks a qualitative step forward in the legitimation of soccer, and women’s sport in particular.

It is true that Australia’s soccer clubs have their foundations in the various immigrant communities that settled in Australia. The Italians, Greeks, Hungarians, Macedonians, Maltese – founded not only their respective social clubs, where migrants could find a safe haven amidst all the challenges of taking up a new life in a new home nation. They also began various soccer clubs – in fact, today’s Matildas can trace their beginnings to St George Budapest and Sydney Prague, two soccer clubs from a non-English speaking background (NESB).

The Italians founded Marconi and APIA Leichhardt in Sydney; the Croatians founded, among others, SC Croatia in Melbourne; the Serbians started the White Eagles in Bonnyrigg, Western Sydney; European Jews started the Maccabi Hakoah club in Sydney’s East; the Hungarians St George Budapest – you get the idea. Sydney Prague (founded by the Czech community), and St George Budapest formed the initial grounds for women’s soccer.

Samantha Lewis writes that the Australian women’s soccer teams, after proving their exceptional talent in local competitions, went on to participate at the international level. In the 1970s, Australian women Socceroos competing in Asian football tournaments, proving their mettle against Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. This history is steadily being lost due to, according to Lewis, decades of apathy and neglect. While men’s sport has been assiduously catalogued and celebrated, women’s soccer achievements have been largely ignored. We have the opportunity to correct that omission.

Let the Commonwealth Games die a dignified death – and let’s celebrate the Matildas and their historic achievements in Australian sport.