A leading academic has said that Scotland would be able to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games - but it can't do it alone.

This week the Australian state of Victoria pulled out of hosting duties citing spiralling costs, which they said had risen from a projected £1.4bn to more than £3bn.

It's the second time in a row that a host city has pulled out, with costs blamed for Durban, South Africa being stripped of hosting the 2022 edition.

Glasgow hosted the event in 2014 to wide acclaim, with with CGF chief executive Mike Hooper declaring the games the best ever, and following the announcement that Victoria was pulling the plug it was suggested that Scotland could once more play host.

First Minister Humza Yousaf pledged to "explore" the option but later warned it would be "quite challenging" to get the necessary infrastructure in place in the span of three years.

He floated the idea of a "multi-country or multi-city" solution, which is an approach being taken for the 2026 FIFA World Cup which will be held in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Read More: 2026 Commonwealth Games: Could Scotland realistically host?

Professor Gayle McPherson is chair in Events and Cultural Policy, and Director of the Research Centre for Culture, Sport and Events at University of West of Scotland and was on the committee for the 2014 games in Glasgow.

She believes that bringing the event back 12 years later is possible, but will need to be done in conjunction with others.

Writing in The Herald she said: "Scotland can be part of the solution – but we must manage our expectations as to what this might look like.

The Herald: Fireworks go off from the roof of Hampden stadium during the closing ceremony to mark the end of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games seen by a global audience.

"In recent years, we have learned that we need to stop moving major events from new city to new city. At a time of climate change, sustainability is high on the agenda.

"Clearly, there are more than enough cities that can share the hosting of global events. Glasgow has demonstrated this following the 2014 Commonwealth Games. They went on to create a new event, the European Championships in 2018 with Berlin and jointly hosted the event. This was hailed a success by all involved including the media and global sponsors.

"Glasgow would go on to host the Para Swimming World Championships in 2019, using the facilities from the 2014 Games – and is now hosting the forthcoming UCI World Cycling Championships; which also involves other cities across Scotland. This major event will leave mountain bike trails, accessible routes and pathways into cycling for the future use.

"In short, Scotland has the expertise and infrastructure already in place to host some of the events in 2026 – but it is unrealistic to suggest that we can do it alone."

Professor McPherson believes that if the English, Welsh and Scottish governments work together on a joint hosting strategy "they could absolutely deliver the Games without breaking the bank".

Much of the necessary infrastructure is already in place, with Birmingham hosting in 2022, Glasgow in 2014 and London having the Olympics in 2012.

Since 1998 the games have only been held outside of the UK or Australia once, with Delhi hosting in 2010, and some have suggested the future of the event itself could be in question.

The cost of the 2010 event was estimated at around $11bn, though some research has shown long-term benefits to hosting.

An analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers found Glasgow, Manchester, Gold Coast and Melbourne all enjoyed long-term improvements to transport or other infrastructure through hosting, while some also saw regeneration of deprived areas.