This is bad news all round.

First and foremost it will be a critical blow for the Commonwealth Games Federation - the international governing body which allocates and oversees the staging of the four-yearly sport festival involving the 70-odd countries and territories of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The CGF has tried to reinvent itself in recent years with all sorts of modern mumbo-jumbo plans and strategies highlighted by its event delivery model - CGF Partnerships.

The only problem is the difficulties it was created to overcome - the lack of credible candidates and the cost of staging the Games - are now more manifest than before.

Previously it had candidate cities who mostly weren't up to it. Now it seems it has no options at all.

Even though Australia has staged the Commonwealth Games many times, Adelaide looked like a great solution for the CGF. One good thing at least about the new approach was that rotating around the continents for rotation's sake was out the window if the right host was available.

South Australia's capital fitted that bill nicely - even though Melbourne and the Gold Coast had played host as recently as in 2006 and 2018 respectively.

The CGFP team came to Adelaide a couple of times and were reportedly impressed. They commented that most facilities seemed to be in place.

And that in many ways is true. But there are two key problems. Are the venues actually available for the Games in a suitable calendar window in 2026 and can the spectator areas be easily expanded to accommodate the expected seating numbers?

Yet on Thursday the South Australian government called stumps on the process - referencing that the cost to the state's taxpayers would be too much.

There was apparently a $2.3 billion negative in the independent financial analysis comparison between costs and economic benefit.

But it's most likely that the problem was AFL and cricket - and the availability of the Adelaide Oval.

From the day chatter about Adelaide bidding for the 2026 Games began, the assumption has always been that the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics competition would be at the showpiece venue.

But unfortunately the South Australians have put all their eggs in one basket when they redeveloped the iconic venue - to the extent of demolishing the only other stadium with a reasonable seating capacity in the process.

To stage the Games which presumably would be in March or April as with Melbourne and the Gold Coast, it would mean taking the venue out of action for cricket and AFL from October 2025 to July 2026.

That's a massive problem for cricket - especially now that the short form game is such a drawcard. But it is equally big for AFL even though it would lose access for only half its 2026 season.

The Gold Coast managed this conundrum because few people watch its local team in any case - while the matches could be played up the road in Brisbane.

Melbourne coped in 2006 because it has multiple venue options - not that the big sports were too happy about it.

But Adelaide is a two-team AFL town. The Adelaide Oval is used every weekend during the season. And there is nowhere else to play in the city that would even remotely accommodate the usual crowds.

And as for the other sports, most of the existing Adelaide venues, while of good quality, have little spectator capacity and upgrading them for a few days of Games action is unviable.

This is where the CGF needs a reality check. It and other controlling bodies simply have to reel in their expectations - starting with way less seating for VIPs, teams and media if it wants paying spectators sitting in available seats.

Alternatively take the decision that some sports will essentially be for television or livestream only. That would massively cut cost.