A joint committee, consisting of members from the regions two biggest sporting bodies has been formed to look at how a Continental Games can be organized. The Oceania National Olympic Committee and the South Pacific Games Council have already had a series of meetings to discuss this. SPG Council president Vidya Lakhan revealed this at a sports roundtable session at the PINA summit currently underway in New Caledonia. If plans fall in place, the proposed Continental Games will see athletes from Australia and New Zealand taking part. Discussions so far is indicating that selected sports will be on offer to Australia and New Zealand in the first Continental Games if it happens. They are sports like rugby sevens, weightlifting, judo, karate and boxing where Pacific athletes will be able to compete with the two bigger nations. Lakhan says both ONOC and SPG Games Council realize that a truly Continental Games is now necessary if one looks at what the Olympics stands for. He adds a Continental Games will allow Pacific athletes to uplift their standards. Lakhan says the region receives a lot of money from the I-O-C but they fail to perform at the Olympic Games. fijione.tv/continental-games-planned-for-pacific-islanders/
Posted on: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 02:16:55 +0000