Three countries want hosting duties for 2019 Pacific Games

After the Pacific Games Council awarded the 2017 Mini Games to Vanuatu, the group will next prepare for the hosting rights bids for the 2019 Pacific Games.

Three nations have already expressed their interest to host the 16th edition of the quadrennial meet. The list includes Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Tahiti. Tahiti is the only one among the three countries to have hosted the Pacific Games, having done so in 1971 and 1995.

Deadline for the submission of bids has yet to be set, but selection is expected to take place in 2013 when Wallis and Futuna hosts the 9th Pacific Mini Games. Two years after the Mini Games, the region’s athletes and officials head to Papua New Guinea for the 15th Pacific Games.

Since 2007, the hosting rights for the Mini and Pacific Games were awarded to either Melanesian or Polynesian nations. Palau was the last Micronesian country to have hosted the Mini Games in 2005. Guam hosted the Pacific Games in 1999.

The CNMI tried to bring the 2017 Mini Games to Saipan, but lost to Vanuatu in the second round of selection last Sunday during the council general assembly. Vanuatu and the CNMI were even after the first round, 8-8, while Nauru was eliminated after getting one only six votes. The Commonwealth then only got one of Nauru’s votes in the second round to bow to Vanuatu, 9-13.

Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association president Michael White, who was present at the assembly, and other members of the CNMI bid committee could not hide their disappointment with the loss, but respected the participating nations’ decision.

“We are all very disappointed. The CNMI clearly had the best bid in terms of facilities and our presentation was clearly superior. As best we can figure, the vote was based strictly on economics. Even with our lower per diem offer, it would have cost most countries more to get to the CNMI, in terms of air fare and the cost of U.S. visas, than to get to Vanuatu,” White said in an email to Saipan Tribune last Monday.

Despite the trend of having the Mini and Pacific Games in either Melanesia or Polynesia, council executive director Andrew Minogue encouraged all Pacific nations to bid for the hosting rights of these competitions.

“It’s very important that each of our member associations have an opportunity to host something. Whether it’s the big Games for the larger countries or the Mini Games for the smaller ones,” Minogue was quoted by Radio New Zealand.