Pacific Games

The presentation was part of the 60th anniversary of the Games.

Inside the Games reports Zullah wore the blazer at the event in Suva in 1963.

Pacific Games Council President Vidhya Lakhan maintains the importance of the Pacific Games to the region's athletes who may not get the chance to go to the Olympics.

"This is our continental Games and is also an opportunity for athletes from the Oceania to qualify for either the Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games as it is a recognised qualifying Games for certain sports," he said.

The team will go through a seven day program in the Gold Coast, where they will receive expert coaching from Australian mentors.

The netballers will also participate in high level trial games against semi-professional franchises and other Pacific teams.

Solomon Islands National Institute of Sports performance manager Amanda Korinihona says the tour will be "a great experience for them to perform as a team on international level".

Eight Honiara-based players left the capital city on Monday, while the rest are expected to join the team on Wednesday.

Pacific Games Council Chief Executive Officer Andrew Minogue told RNZ Pacific the Pacific Games Organising Committee would produce the programmes and have the selected broadcasters share that in their respective countries reports RNZ Pacific.

"We have basically settled on a model that is like the traditional model that we've employed in previous Games where the Organising Committee will sort of put it all together in-house and then contract with different regional broadcasters, for example, Fiji TV in Fiji or France Television for the French territories," Minogue revealed.

On 24 March, World Athletics announced new regulations that would completely bar transgender male-to-female athletes from participating in its competitions.

The governing body also announced stricter restrictions on athletes with DSD which is expected to impact champion Olympic athletes.

"Our position is quite simple," council president Vidya Lakhan told RNZ Pacific.

"So, we are always guided by the respective international federations.

President Vidya Lakhan and Chief executive Officer Andrew Minogue visited Honiara last week to assess preparations for the 17th Pacific Games.

The delegation visited several of the Games venues, including the main Sports City precinct and the accommodation construction site at the Solomon Islands National University.

They were briefed on the status of works on the main road into the city, the near completion of the new international airport terminal, and the recent "Safe and Green Games" launch.

FBC reports Chef de Mission Ajay Ballu saying these two sports had some issues that could not allow them to be part of the contingent.

In terms of bodybuilding, he said they have a governance issue and did not have an AGM.

And, he added, judo missed the bond payment deadline.

Ballu said all federations had been informed well before time of the regulations and deadlines and they will not be lenient this year.

He confirmed that the nation will be represented by 27 sports at the Honiara Pacific Games that will be held in November and December.

On the men's side, the countries that qualified for the tournament are Guam, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga.

On the women's side Guam, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, The Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Samoa, French Polynesia and New Caledonia are set to play.

The Pacific Games serves as a qualifying event for the Asian Cup and in turn for the FIBA World Cup.

The Games are scheduled to begin on November 19.

However, Inside the Games reports the Games boss saying there will be no beer sales at the venues.

Solomon Islands 2023 chief executive Peter Stewart said the responsible use of alcohol is an important message that the Games can assist with sending throughout the sporting community.

But SolBrew beer will be used exclusively at Pacific Games VIP and corporate functions, both in the lead-up to and during the Games.

The funding is expected to help visiting athletes with accommodation, sporting equipment and the construction of a temporary venue for open water disciplines.

According to the Inside the Games website this is a counter-balance move against the growing influence of China who have pledge to donate $US21 million to the games.

However, Australian Pacific minister Pat Conroy said Australia is only seeking to help the Solomons and its population.

Yesterday New Zealand Rugby announced all six New Zealand based sides would be relocating to Queenstown this weekend for the first three rounds of the competition with day games being played in Queenstown and night games at Invercargill's Rugby Park.

However, after further discussions between the teams and NZR, it was agreed to move night games to Dunedin's Forsyth Barr stadium which has a roof.

The move will add some extra travel time for the teams playing in Dunedin, as they will have to drive back to their Queenstown bubbles after each match.