Transcript
ANDREW MINOGUE: Given the boycott and a lot of the other things that have taken place there this year the General Assembly unanimously agreed that as of the conclusion of these Games the Pacific Games Association is under suspension until the Executive Board is satisfied that the government understands that it cannot interfere in the operations of sport and in particular the of the PGA, what they call the COPF, the Comité Olympique de Polynésie Française. The Executive Board has been empowered to do the review and the analysis and when it is satisfied that things are back to normal there then Tahiti will be readmitted - it doesn't have to go to another General Assembly, which will be later in 2018.
VINNIE WYLIE: As it stands right now with the ban, there is no date or deadline on it?
AM: No, so we're hopeful that it could turn around reasonably quickly or it could take a long time. The ball is in the government's court and also the PGA, Tahiti Olympic Committee, to do the work that they need to do to assure us that the proper protocols will be respected in future. We're not putting a timeline on it: it could happen quickly, it could take a while but the Board itself has been given the power to make that decision and bring them back in when it's satisfied.
VW: Are things complicated by the fact there is technically no Tahiti Olympic Committee or Pacific Games Association at the moment?
AM: Well, as of last weekend, the second of December, they did have a election and a new group was elected to office. We'll take a look at that process (but) on what we know so far on face value it seems to have been conducted properly, in accordance with the due process that we'd expect, so there is no a group of officers representing the PGA. They were not here yesterday for the meeting but I think what we need to do is make sure that new group understands their responsibilities to govern independently of the views of their government and we also need the assurance from the government that they will let that new group operate the Olympic Committee on the independent basis. I think when we get to that point they'll be back in.
VW: So would the Pacific Games Council be looking to have a meeting with the new people in charge?
AM: It could be necessary to do it that way, it could be through exchange of letters and phone-calls and things like that. As I said, we're here busy on the Games here (in Vanuatu) - whether we schedule some meetings in Tahiti or bring them to us at some future time it's really up to the process that will unfold and how that goes forward. We will write to the Olympic Committee officially in the next few days, to inform them of this decision and the steps that we want to see, and then they will respond to us in a way that suggests how they think that they could resolve matters and it could well be that we need to meet or possibly not.
