From December 6th to 7th, members of the Government of Solomon Islands, the Honiara City Council, the National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI) and the Pacific Games Council (PGC) participated in the inaugural meeting of the Solomon Islands 2023 Pacific Games National Hosting Authority (NHA), in Honiara.

Pacific Games plaintiffs who are trying to sue the Kingdom of Tonga for multimillion pa'anga damages over its cancelling of the Pacific Games hosting in 2019, have been given leave to amend their claims, after the Chief Justice found their statement of claim was defective.
 
The defendant, the Kingdom of Tonga, had applied to strike out / or stay the plaintiffs claims. 

The Pacific Games in July next year could strain Samoa’s national health and medical services, says Minister of Health Tutaima Dr. Leao Tuitama.  
 
He was responding to questions, on whether the Ministry of Health is prepared to cater for the 4000-plus athletes and officials, who will travel to Samoa next year for the region’s two-week sporting event.    
 
“Of course facilities are provided, but personnel are vital in the programme because games need medical assistance to oversee it,” he said.  
 

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah claimed he would "come back stronger" as President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) after he had to return to the General Assembly here today to plead with the members to allow him to stand aside following allegations of forgery.
 
Flanked by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and ANOC secretary Gunilla Lindberg, Sheikh Ahmad gave an impassioned speech in which he asked for the support for his plan to step down as head of the umbrella body for "a while".
 

The Director of the 2019 Pacific Games Committee, Aveau Niko Palamo, has resigned.
 
The resignation comes nine months before the opening ceremony of the Games scheduled for 7 July 2019.
 
Aveau’s resignation was confirmed by the Chairman of the Pacific Games Committee and Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, Loau Keneti Sio.
 
“There is nothing the Committee can do when the two men cannot work together,” Loau said. 

The 2019 Pacific Games Organising Committee is looking to finalise the number of hotels to be used by athletes and officials during the games by the end of next month.
 
This is according to the committee’s CEO., Falefata Hele Matatia, who told the Samoa Observer that the Attorney-General’s office is finalising the details of the accommodation arrangements.   

The official Pacific Games 2019 Sports programme was released in a press conference at Tuina’imato Sports complex Friday.
 
The two-week schedule covering 26 sports and their confirmed location and venue was launched as well as introducing the Technical team from China who will be assisting the Pacific Games Committee with their expertise and resources.
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The 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa will be known as “One in Spirit” that beat 300 other entries as the winning slogan, a feat that surprised even its creator.
 
Maria Leota is the successful author of the winning slogan, who shared that when she received the good news she was in disbelief.  “I never thought in a million years I would win. I’m escatic. I’m honoured,” she said.

​Fiji Association of Sport and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) have expressed their disappointment after boycotting athletes did not attend a meeting aimed at resolving their dispute with Fiji Weightlifting.

Numerous athletes and officials announced a boycott in protest at the ousting of former national coach Joe Vueti, and the appointment of the 2000 Olympic 105 kilograms champion and former Iran and Oman head coach Hossein Tavakoli last month.

Vueti held the official title of national development officer, though he has been regarded as Fiji's national coach for many years.

The decision led to a led to a mass withdrawal of youth, junior and senior athletes from the Oceania Championships, due to take place from June 28 to 30.

This could result in Fiji's youngest lifters losing their chance to qualify for this year's Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires should they not attend the Championships in New Caledonia.

Eileen Cikamatana, Fiji's sportswoman of the year and one of the best young weightlifters in the world, has also indicated she would miss the Senior World Championships in November, an Olympic qualifying event for Tokyo 2020.

A FASANOC delegation travelled to Levuka last month to hear grievances of the athletes and share information they claimed was important for the athletes.

Levuka is the island where Vueti and most of Fiji's weightlifters live.

It was claimed by FASANOC that the organisation shared their own experiences and knowledge of how the structure of sports works in Fiji and the impact this conflict could have on the pathway of these high performing athletes.

A particular focus was placed on the potential impact on athletes who had secured International Olympic Committee scholarships for Tokyo 2020.

FASANOC claimed that, while the athletes had stated they would continue their boycott, the organisation felt a positive step had been taken with athletes having been "prepared to have dialogue with the Weightlifting Fiji Executive Board, on condition that the meeting is chaired by an independent facilitator".

The Levuka Club warned that the meeting must be held in Levuka, although FASANOC confirmed it would be held at Fiji Olympic House in Suva.

They hoped that at Levuka officials who are on the Board of Weightlifting Fiji and senior athletes would for the meeting yesterday.

FASANOC have expressed disappointment that while Weightlifting Fiji officials did attend the meeting, the boycotting athletes did not.

"FASANOC is disappointed at the stance taken by these athletes and officials as it believes that there has to be face to face dialogue between the two parties before any kind of resolution can be agreed on," Joe Rodan, the FASANOC President, said.

"Having done its part, FASANOC will respect the autonomy of Weightlifting Fiji, as an affiliated National Federation, to determine the course of action it feels necessary.

"It has, however, urged and encouraged the Federation to fully take into consideration the interest of the athletes involved."

Weightlifting Fiji claimed Tavakoli had been appointed as part of a programme to take the nation to a new level in the sport, and tied in with plans to create an elite performance centre in Suva.

Tavakoli has been appointed with funding and support from a Government-backed plan to appoint more foreign coaches.

Suva is due to host next year's IWF Junior World Championships.

SOURCE: INSIDETHEGAMES/PACNEWS

​Samoa 2019 will be the final edition of the Pacific Games to feature more than 24 sports, with the multi-sport event set to be capped for future editions.

The Pacific Games Council (PGC) are hopeful that by capping the number of events from the 2023 event, the Games would become more sustainable for hosts in the future.

The Games have grown significantly since the first edition in Suva in 1963, where nearly 650 athletes competed in 10 sports in the Fijian city.

There has been a gradual rise in both the number of sports and athletes, with the peak coming at the 2007 Pacific Games, held in Samoa’s capital Apia.

A total of 5,000 athletes competed in 33 sports at the Games.

Recent editions of the Games have seen a reduction, with 4,300 athletes competing in 27 sports in New Caledonia’s capital Nouméa in 2011.

A total of 3,700 athletes took part in 28 sports in Port Moresby, with Papua New Guinea’s capital staging the last edition in 2015.

Samoa is poised to see a further reduction to 26 sports, with the PGC deciding to limit the number to 24 from the 2023 event, which will be held in the Solomon Islands.

PGC chief executive Andrew Minogue stated that the decision was made for the sustainability of the Games, but also after assessing the number of athletes in events at Port Moresby 2015.

“For the 2023 Games onwards, the numbers are reduced to 24 - 16 compulsory plus 8 optional,” Minogue told insidethegames.

“We reduced the maximum number of sports with an eye to the sustainability of the Games for host countries, and also after reviewing entries for the 2015 Games in Port Moresby.

“We have a requirement for each sport to obtain at least six Pacific Games Associations/National Olympic Committee entries and based on the past few Games, 28 or 26 sports do not seem to be able reach this minimum standard across the board.

“The PGC believes that 24 is the right number for these purposes going forward.

“It is also double the maximum number of sports for our Mini Games.”

A total of 16 compulsory sports will feature on the Samoa 2019 programme, along with a further 10 optional sports.

The compulsory sports include athletics, basketball, boxing, football, golf, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and triathlon.

Rugby sevens, sailing, swimming, volleyball, weightlifting and Va’a – a canoeing discipline – are also compulsory.

The programme will be completed by optional sports archery, badminton, cricket, lawn bowls, netball, rugby league nines, powerlifting, shooting, squash and touch rugby.

It will mark the return of archery and badminton to the programme, with both sports having been absent from Port Moresby 2015.

Beach volleyball, hockey, karate and softball, which were on the programme in 2015, will not feature in Samoa.

Preparations are expected to be assessed this week in Samoa, with the PGC set to hold their General Assembly on Sunday (June 17).

A venue tour will take place the following day as part of a Chef de Mission seminar.

Samoa were awarded the 2019 Pacific Games in December as a replacement for Tonga. It followed Tonga’s Government withdrawing from hosting due to financial concerns.

A civil suit has been filed by the PGC and the Tonga Association of Sport and National Olympic Committee, with the organisation’s seeking damages from the Government.

SOURCE: INSIDETHEGAMES/PACNEWS