Eligibility rules for Pacific Games up for review

With the Pacific Games Council General Assembly a mere two months away, the chairman of the PGC Charter Review Committee is calling on a meeting that would settle the dispute on the eligibility rules for next year’s Pacific Mini Games in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

The council is scheduled to meet from Sept. 19 to 22 in the Cook Islands to adopt amendments to the PGC Charter, particularly Section 25, which deals with eligibility.

Amendments were based on the recommendations of the Charter Review Committee, which met twice to discuss changes in the charter. The first meeting was held in Auckland, New Zealand, last Dec. 2, while the second one took place in Nadi, Fiji, on March 12 during the Oceania National Olympic Committee General Assembly.

The committee, which David Tupou of Tonga chaired, deliberated on the changes suggested by several PGAs, including those from the Northern Mariana Islands.

Suggestions of the various PGAs regarding the eligibility rules were best reflected on the recommended revised Charter submitted by Andrew Minogue of Samoa.

Contents of Article 25, Section D which discusses citizenship and residency conditions for inclusion in a team selected by the PGA to represent its country/territory are as follows: “Be either a citizen of the country/territory the athlete is to represent at the Games and a resident of that country/territory for a period of not less than five years (cumulatively, whether consecutive or not); or, if not a citizen of the country/territory the athlete is to represent, be a resident of the country/territory for a consecutive period of five years up to and including the deadline for individual entries”; and “for the avoidance of doubt the temporary absence of an athlete from the country/territory of their citizenship (or, in the case of expatriates, temporary absence from the country/territory of their residence) for purposes such as education and sports training, military service and health care and other legitimate absences of a like kind shall be considered as residency.”

During the Charter Review Committee meeting in Nadi, the group ruled in favor of allowing expatriates and those who meet the residency requirement to compete in the Games with a 3-2 vote. The committee has Michael A. White of the CNMI, Tina Brown of the Cook Islands, Sir John Dawanicura of Papua New Guinea, and Charles Cali of New Caledonia as members.

But Tupou said in a report to concerned parties that the recommendation concerning eligibility is “not clear cut.”

“As can be seen from the report, much of the discussions by the CRC were with the eligibility requirement in Article 25 of the Constitution. A number of the submissions received related to eligibility. At the end, the CRC was divided on this 3/2 and the recommendation concerning eligibility is therefore not clear cut,” Tupou said.

The Charter Review Committee head added he considered the recommendation of ONOC president Kevan Gosper to call on a meeting between representatives of PGC, OSFO (Oceania Sports Federations Organization) and ONOC to settle the issue.

“It should be held as soon as possible so that the result is evident before the Council meeting in the Cook Islands later this year. We have to get the eligibility issue resolved by the Council Meeting in the Cook Islands so that PGAs will know who is eligible for the 2009 Mini Games and who is not,” Tupou said.

“Such a meeting can only succeed if the parties come with good intention without any preconceived hard line stance and look to a better and prosperous future for the Pacific Games. The meeting should endeavor to be conducted in a non confrontational manner,” he added.

Once a meeting was held, it is up to the Executive Board of the Pacific Games Council to decide on the eligibility rules and other amendments to the Charter.

The NMI, through White, submitted a written recommendation to the Charter Review Committee. The NMI suggested that non-citizens of a PGA should be allowed to compete in the Games provided they resided on the country/territory they are representing for at least five years.

Non-citizens of the country/territory they are representing were barred from competing during the 2007 South Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa.

The NMI was among the 22 members of the PGC that was affected by the eligibility rule adopted in Apia with 2006 Micro Games gold medalist Kana Aikawa and the NMI table tennis team, which won medals in the Micro Games and the 2005 Mini Games in Palau, missing the Games. Aikawa holds Canadian and Japanese passports, but had resided in the NMI for more than five years before moving to Hawaii to study, while members of the NMI table tennis team are mostly Chinese passport holders. [B][I](RM)[/I][/B]