Commonwealth Games Australia plans to keep sports like cricket and boxing “in the family” even if they are dropped as part of the pared-back Glasgow 2026 event, and is considering funding their athletes to compete in other events in the hope their disciplines will be included again.

The pledge follows the announcement on Tuesday night that the Scottish government has agreed to host the Commonwealth’s sports showcase in two years, after Victoria withdrew from their commitment last year.

Craig Phillips, chief executive of Commonwealth Games Australia, said he no longer has a relationship with the Victorian government, but the news overnight was “more sweet than bitter”, and he was “delighted” for the athletes.

Phillips added he was looking forward to having the program confirmed to move on with planning, and flagged a meeting with officials from Australia’s member sports on Friday.

“[It will be] how they’re retained in the family, so how we retain them as members, but then also, is there a way we can actually support their athletes, even if they aren’t on the program?”

Phillips said while he has not been informed of the sports to be excluded and has no input on the decision, the proposal’s “venue footprint” sheds light on the likely inclusions. The proposal submitted to the Scottish government by the local Commonwealth Games federation promised “a compact four-venue model within an eight-mile corridor”.

Only athletics and swimming have been formally guaranteed a place. Given the city hosted the event in 2014, many of the same venues are to be re-used. Phillips said athletics would be at Scotstoun Stadium, swimming at Tollcross, track cycling at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, and indoor sports will be hosted at the SEC, Scotland’s largest exhibition centre. “I think it starts to show you where the direction [is going] but again, I don’t want to pre-empt the final decision by the CGF,” he said.

While the Scottish proposal was explicit in stating there will be 10 sports offered, the Commonwealth Games Federation is hopeful up to 13 will be included. At the 2014 Games the SEC hosted weightlifting, boxing, judo, wrestling, netball, and gymnastics.

Athletics Australia president Jane Fleming said her sport’s inclusion will be important in the run up to the 2032 Olympics on home soil. “With our junior athletes having finished the World Under-20 Championships as the most successful Australian team in history, the Commonwealth Games, as their next logical step, will also be key to ensuring the success of the nation at the Brisbane 2032 Games,” she said.

Officials in cricket – which returned to the Commonwealth Games program with women’s T20 in Birmingham in 2022 and will rejoin the Olympics in 2028 – do not expect their sport to be included, but Victoria was only going to be a small part of the upcoming calendar.

Instead, smaller sports and those with para-classes face losing a major event on the international program.

“We’ve got 22 member sports, we’ll obviously be disappointed for any that aren’t on the program,” Phillips said. “But the reality is, the Games can only be a certain scale, and some will miss out unfortunately, so all we can do is look after them as best we can as our members, and make sure that we’re supporting them through the next phase of all of this.”

CGA planned to give $13m to Australian sports organisations in the run up to the now-defunct Victorian 2026 Games.

Phillips said boxing’s competing international federations – which caused problems in the administration of the sport at the Paris Games – is “problematic” and “we’ve got to navigate through all of that.” But he said boxing would be a “difficult sport to leave out of the program”.

The 22 sports planned for the Commonwealth Games in Victoria were:

• Athletics and para-athletics

• Badminton

• 3x3 basketball, 3x3 wheelchair basketball

• Beach volleyball

• Boxing

• Coastal rowing

• Cricket T20 (women’s)

• Cycling (BMX, mountain bike, road, track and para-track)

• Diving

• Golf

• Gymnastics (artistic)

• Hockey

• Lawn bowls and para-lawn bowls

• Netball

• Para-powerlifting

• Rugby 7s

• Shooting and para-shooting

• Squash

• Swimming and para-swimming

• Table Tennis and para-table tennis

• Triathlon and para-triathlon

• Weightlifting