September 9 - Fiji hopes to discover next month whether they can still compete in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.



Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) President Michael Fennell has warned the Fiji Amateur Sports and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) that they face being banned from the Games in the Indian capital after their membership of the Commonwealth was suspended earlier this month because its military dictatorship have refused to hold elections.

The situation is due to be discussed by the CGF at its Executive Board meeting in Delhi on October 11.
 
Vidhya Lakhan, the President of the FASANOC, said: "I think the President [Fennell] is confused and that's why he needs guidance from the executive board.
 

"We have offered to attend the meeting to present our case.

"FASANOC is an affiliate of the Commonwealth Games Federation and we have not been expelled or suspended."
 

Lakhan claimed the Commonwealth Secretariat should not have polticised the situation by claiming that Fiji would be banned from the Games.
 

He said: "The Commonwealth Games Federation is separate from the Commonwealth Secretariat.

"The Commonwealth Games Federation is governed by its own charter, regulations and protocols."

Lakhan claimed that in previous CGF meetings in Gambia and Lausanne, FASANOC was assured of Fiji's participation even if the country was suspended from the Commonwealth.
 

He said FASANOC would lobby for support from its regional national Olympic committees to participate in Delhi, including at a meeting of the Oceania CGF in Rarotonga on the Cook Islands on September 22, which will be attended by the CGF's chief executive Mike Hooper.


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