Fiji Association of Sports & National Olympic Committee president Vidya Lakhan is in South Africa as part of the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly.

He represents Fiji among leaders of 71 countries in The Gambia in Western Africa for the three-day meeting for Commonwealth Games member countries.

The Assembly, attended by 150 delegates, will see Lakhan adding the Pacific plight before the confirmation for Samoa as the host of the 2015 World Youth Games.

Samoa is the sole candidate for the 2015 Youth Games and it is expected that the General Assembly will ratify its candidature. It will be a big result for the Pacific Island, which has built a reputation for hosting sports events after conducting the 2007 Pacific Games.

The assembly will also hear reports from the hosts of the next two Commonwealth Games – New Delhi in 2010 and Glasgow in 2014.

It was at last year’s General Assembly in Colombo, Sri Lanka, that Glasgow won the right to host the 2014 Games, defeating the bid from the Nigerian city of Abuja. The General Assembly is the ultimate authority of the Commonwealth Games movement, and members will be keenly interested in the progress of both Games’ hosts.

Last week the CGF Coordination Commission visited Delhi as part of its regular monitoring of progress, and its head, Austin Sealy, will also report to the Assembly.

India also recently played host to the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, where all countries and territories of the Commonwealth were represented, and the Isle of Man has already been selected to host the 2011 version.

Lakhan is expected to return this weekend.

Fijilive

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