Saipan Tribune

Monday, September 06, 2010

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Eligibility rules up for review

The fate of athletes hoping to represent the CNMI in the 2011 Pacific Games in New Caledonia hangs in the balance for now, as proposed changes on eligibility rules were referred to a charter review committee.

Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association president Michael White, who attended the Pacific Games Council's General Assembly in Rarotonga, Cook Islands last month, said no decision was made on the introduced amendments on eligibility rules, including the “grandfathering” system.

White, during the NMASA monthly meeting on Thursday, added proposed changes were forwarded to a charter review committee, which will then discuss and make recommendations about the eligibility rules in next year's PGC General Assembly.

Members of the committee have yet to be selected, while the General Assembly will take place in New Caledonia mid next year with the council also expected to check on the French territory's preparation for the Pacific Games.

The “grandfathering” system, which the CNMI is supporting, will allow athletes who had played in the Mini Games and Pacific Games from 2005 or earlier to compete in New Caledonia in 2011.

In the current charter amended at the PCG Assembly in Rarotonga on Sept. 22, 2008, only athletes who meet the citizenship/residency requirement can compete in the Mini Games and Pacific Games.

According to the PCG Charter, “citizen” means the holder of a current valid and applicable passport of the country/territory the athlete represents. “Residency” means that the athlete shall be a citizen of the country/territory the athlete represents and has resided for not less than five years (cumulatively, whether consecutively or not) at any time in that country/territory of the PGA (Pacific Games Association).

“For the avoidance of doubt, the temporary absence of an athlete from the country/territory of their citizenship 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,” the Charter further stated.

The “applicable passports” for territories are as follows: US-for American Samoa, Guam, and the CNMI; New Zealand-for Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau, Australia-for Norfolk Island; and France-for French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna.

Tennis and table tennis associations in the CNMI have expressed an intention to send delegates to the 2011 Pacific Games, but some of their players do not qualify under the current eligibility rules.

Besides the “grandfathering system,” some PGAs are also proposing that the council considers the rules implemented by the sports' respective international federations.

Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association president Jeff Race said their mother federation, the Oceania Tennis Federation, may support these amendments.

Race said OTF is aware that there are several players who are not citizens of the country/territory they are representing, but have honed their skills there for a long period of time and had represented these nations well in international tournaments.

“They may support changes in this “citizen-only” rule,” Race said.