The council’s 22 members needed two rounds of voting to determine the winning bid, with Vanuatu beating the NMI, 13-9 in New Caledonia last Sunday. Both sides tied, 8-8 in the first round, with Nauru gaining six votes.
“Although our sports facilities are better than those in Vanuatu, it is very costly to bring athletes from the Pacific countries to Saipan for sports competition,” said Gov. Benigno R. Fitial.
Prior to voting, the CNMI, Vanuatu, and Nauru conducted 30-minute presentations to the General Assembly of the PGC.
According to the Radio New Zealand International, PGC executive director Andrew Minogue stated that “the central location of Vanuatu in the Pacific was a big factor in voting, as it will help to keep travel costs down for other competing nations.”
This will be Vanuatu’s second time to host the Mini Games since 1993 at Port Vila. The country’s sports program includes athletics, volleyball, football, golf, rugby, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting, archery, boxing, cricket, judo, karate, and netball.
Similar to Vanuatu, the CNMI’s proposed program consists of 11 sports: athletics, football, golf, swimming, tennis, canoe, beach volleyball, baseball, sailing, triathlon, and indoor volleyball.
Developing all facilities, the Games village, transportation, and competition equipment – among others – will cost Vanuatu a little over $30,000,000. On the other hand, the CNMI proposed a total budget of $990,000.
When asked for a possible bid for the 2020 Mini Games, Fitial said, “I will defer that decision to the CNMI 2020 Pacific Mini Games Bid Committee, if there will be one.”
Gov. Fitial was scheduled to leave New Caledonia yesterday and will arrive on Saipan today.
The Mini Games – a quadrennial event – last took place in the Cook Islands in 2009 and is set for Wallis and Futuna in 2013.
