A slimmed down programme for the next Games was announced on Tuesday, but Sir Keir insisted the event will still be of great importance to the Scottish economy.

Glasgow will host the 2026 Commonwealth Games after the Australian state of Victoria pulled out of its planned staging of the event. Victoria withdrew from hosting the event due to escalating costs. Glasgow — which already has much of the existing infrastructure having most recently hosted the games in 2014 — will now stage the events across across four venues between July 23 and August 2,

No specific reason has been provided for the decision, but a number of disciplines have been removed from the 2026 edition