Preparation for 9th Indian Ocean Island Games in 2015 |21 July 2014

Federations informed of IOIG quota

Federations and associations whose sports have been included on the 9th Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) roster in Reunion next year have been informed of the quota of athletes.

This was during a meeting on Friday afternoon at the Maison Football auditorium.

Present were Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports Minister Vincent Meriton; community development and sports principal secretary Denis Rose;

Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) president Antonio Gopal; National Sports Council chief executive Giovanna Rousseau; Socga secretary general Alain Alcindor; Jean Larue, the head of the technical committee that oversees the preparation of our athletes; as well as representatives of the different federations.

In his opening address, Minister Meriton informed the 14 federations that will compete at next year’s games that the purpose of the meeting was to confirm the number of athletes and officials that each association and federation are permitted to select for the Reunion games.

“We are gathered here to confirm the number of participants for the IOIG in Reunion based on consultation between the government, National Sports Council and the different federations,” Minister Meriton told the audience.

Minister Meriton reminded those gathered that at the last games held here in 2011, our country made history in terms of the number of gold medals our athletes won which was a total of 57 which was a record that propelled Team Seychelles to second position on the table behind Reunion with 58 gold medals.

“We need to take our preparations seriously once again for these games and I am satisfied with the work the federations are doing at the moment to ensure our athletes are ready for the games,” Minister Meriton said.

For his part, Socga president Gopal told the federations’ and associations’ representatives that the agreed quota by CIJ (Comité International de Jeux) is 325 athletes and officials.

“We have been communicating with the different partners to prepare for these games since the first CIJ meeting and after different consultations which was not easy, we have decided on the sports that will take part in the games as the games committee has agreed that there are only 2,000 places and therefore we cannot go over the limit,” Mr Gopal said.

Mr Gopal added that the local committee has selected the different disciplines where they feel they have the potential to do well.

“I would appeal to federations to review the technical regulations of the games and to bring to our attention any anomalies that you notice,” Mr Gopal told the representatives.

This statement came as a result of the decision by the games organising committee to allocate only one medal for each category in weightlifting.

Concerns

Apparently the Reunion organising committee is pushing to award only one medal for the Olympic total which according to those present is in itself a very controversial decision as they want to discontinue awarding gold for clean & jerk as well as snatch which is contrary to the international regulations.

In 2011, Seychelles win 30 gold medals out of a total of 45 available in weightlifting and this is a dirty ploy by the organisers to cut down on the strength of our team.

However, the quorum was told that this is an issue that will be fiercely contested in the coming meetings before the final decision is taken next year.

Another contested problem comes from the sport of judo where the representatives wanted an increase in the number of female athletes as had been envisaged to make sure they have a full team. They were reassured that they can decide on how to balance the number of male and female athletes and inform the local committee.

Seychelles Swimming Association David Vidot also expressed his concern on the date of the IOIG which are from August 1-8, 2015.

Mr Vidot said that during that time, there will also be the world swimming championships in Kazan, Russia from July 24 to August 9.

The world championships are a prerequisite for aspired athletes who wish to take part in the Summer Olympics Games in Rio, Brazil in 2016 and therefore this caused a problem for our swimmers.

Mr Gopal said they will try to discuss this matter with the organising committee though it is unlikely the dates will be changed.

Socga secretary general Alcindor revealed that one of the main criteria for selecting the different disciplines for the next IOIG was those who had the potential to win medals as well as aspiring athletes.

There is one new sport that will be represented at the Reunion games and this is women’s football while tennis makes a comeback.

The other 14 sports are athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling, football, handball, judo, sailing, swimming, tennis, table tennis, volleyball and weightlifting.

All disciplines except cycling and boxing are open to male and female athletes

In all there are expected to be 240 athletes and 85 officials for next year’s games to represent the 14 disciplines selected compared to 2011 when Seychelles hosted the games where there were 12 disciplines and 1,800 athletes and officials altogether.

Those gathered also had a chance to be presented with the games logo and hymn and it was agreed that there will be other meetings with the federations to finalise the list and names of athletes.

R. J-L.