On July 31, the South Pacific Games Council met to decide on the matter, with the meeting announced to the public by Michael White, Northern Marianas Islands Chef De Mission to the 2005 Palau South Pacific Mini Games. The hosting duties were also bid on by the Solomon Islands, and American Samoa, which was eliminated in the first round.
The last time that the city of Noumea, New Caledonia hosted the event was in 1987.
Any country that sends athletes to participate in the SPG is eligible to host the competition.
The New Caledonia win is the culmination of a six-year bid process that all interested countries must follow.
The 2011 Pacific Games will have the maximum number of sports, 28 which are: compulsory sports: Athletics, Basketball, Football, Golf, Rugby 7s, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Va’a, Volleyball – Beach, Volleyball – Indoor, and Weightlifting. The optional sports are: Archery, Badminton, Baseball, Bodybuilding, Boxing, Cricket, Judo, Karate, Power lifting, Sailing, Shooting, Squash, Surfing, Taekwondo, and Triathlon.
For the Pacific Games the Council has completed its negotiations with a number of international federations concerning the use of their sport’s eligibility regulations at the 2011 Pacific Games.
Consequently, the following three sports will have their competitions designated as official qualification events by their respective international federations:
CRICKET – all matches will be deemed by the International Cricket Council as “Official Internationals” meaning that participating countries have the opportunity to move up into a higher ICC membership category.
FOOTBALL – the Men’s event will be the first stage qualification for the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where the Pacific Games gold, silver and bronze medal winning teams will progress to a second stage tournament against New Zealand. In the Women’s event, the Pacific Games gold medal winning team will progress to a second stage play-off with New Zealand with a spot at the London 2012 Olympic Games available for the play-off winner.
TENNIS – the Oceania Tennis Federation will use the Pacific Games as an official selection event for the Pacific Oceania Davis Cup (Men) and Federation Cup (Women) teams.
The South Pacific Games were previously held in Suva (1963), Nouméa (1966), Port Moresby (1969), Papeete (1971), Guam (1975), Suva (1979), Apia (1983), Nouméa (1987), Port Moresby (1991), Papeete (1995), Guam (1999), Suva (2003), Apia (2007).
