"We have made a commitment to work with Cardiff council to look at the feasibility of bidding to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games," said a spokesman.

"We are working with the council and other key stakeholders, such as the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales, to meet that commitment."

Provisional figures show that the event could cost the Welsh capital around £530 million ($832 million/€617 million) based on the budget for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games with £350 million ($549 million/€407 million) of the budget would be met by National Government, £80 million ($125.6 million/€93 million) by Local Government and £100 million ($157 million/€116 million) acquired via commercial operations.

The Commonwealth Games Council for Wales, which would make the formal bid, stressed that the £530 ($832 million/€617 million) million bill, which was calculated following a provisional feasibility study for the event earlier this year, was only a "ballpark figure" and that the feasibility work would estimate the potential costs and benefits.

But Chris Jenkins, chief executive of the Commonwealth Games Council for Wales, stated that the study showed that a real legacy could be created for Cardiff from the competition.

"Part of the issue when hosting these events is that you end up building venues that become white elephants you don't really need," said Jenkins, who last month was as the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) European regional vice-president in a move that will no doubt be a boost for any Cardiff 2026 bid.

"The scoping exercise looked at how many of the core sports can be held in existing venues to avoid that negative legacy.

"With the bidding process, you really begin with the legacy because, in a sense, the Games are just 10 days which is a relatively short timeframe."

The provisional feasibility study showed that the wider South Wales region could also host competition in conjunction with Cardiff with Newport and Blaenau Gwent likely to be involved in any bid.

The study said that existing stadiums, such as the iconic Millennium Stadium (pictured), would be a key part of the bid but that temporary venues could also be created to avoid the need for creating new infrastructure and therefore keep costs down.

The creation of a new Athletes' Village was highlighted as is the single most important element of the bid but the study also showed that there are many existing venues that could host competition.

Cardiff City Stadium was provisionally scheduled for rugby sevens, Welsh Institute of Sport for lawn bowls, the Millennium Centre for weightlifting, St Davids Hall for boxing and judo, Newport Centre for squash, Wales National Tennis Centre for tennis, Newport Velodrome for cycling and Blaenau Gwent's Blaengarw Park for triathlon.

"We are enthusiastic about the potential to host the Commonwealth Games, and we welcome the Welsh Government's decision to back a feasibility study in order for us to progress to the next stage," said Councillor Nigel Howells, the executive member for sport, leisure and culture.

"Cardiff has exceptional experience of hosting international sporting events and we are committed to exploring new avenues to cement the city on the world sporting stage."

The plan suggests that the Millennium Stadium could be reduced in capacity for the athletics, with a raised running track taking the place of the first few rows of seating.

A temporary tank at the International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay would host aquatics, while rowing could be held in the Bay and canoe/kayak at the Cardiff International White Water centre.

Cardiff would also need to build an indoor arena with a capacity of about 10,000 seats for sports such as netball, badminton, gymnastics and table tennis.

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