22 Feb 2012

Sport: Samoa Athletics Association could lose Oceania and IAAF membership

11:31 am on 22 February 2012

The Samoa Athletics Association faces being stripped off its

membership of the Oceania Athletics Association and the International

Athletics Association Federation amidst allegations of poor

performance and non compliance issues.

The Executive Director for the Oceania Athletics Association, Yvonne Mullin, is currently in Samoa to monitor the country's performance.

Ms. Mullin told Talamua online news it would be sad to see Samoa dropped from the international circle of athletics.

She says the SAA has failed to comply with international standards and hopes a positive solution is reached at the end of her visit.

Problems within the SAA previously led Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi to set up an Athletics Commission headed by the Minister for Sports to oversee the development of athletics in schools and SAA performance.