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President of the North American Central American and Caribbean Athletics (NACAC)Mike Sands admits he was disappointed to learn Barbados was no longer biddingto host the 2026 Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) Games.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Nation Online, Sands said it was regrettablethat the inaugural host of the regional junior track and field championship in 1972would not be capable of staging the 53rd edition of the CARIFTA Games.
Sands said “It would be remiss of me if I didn’t say that I was disappointed (thatBarbados pulled out of the running to host the 2026 CARIFTA Games).Barbados is a founding member of the CARIFTA family.”
He added “However that is not something that should be held against thembecause obviously the facilities are necessary and you have to also look at thepriorities and the need to do certain things. Unfortunately the stadium will not beready and as a result they took the position to at least give us sufficient notice thatthey couldn’t host it. We have to respect and appreciate it and now we have time toseek an alternative.”
When asked how he felt about the island’s intention to host the 2028 CARIFTAGames instead, the NACAC president revealed it would please the association.
“We would like to see as many founding members do it (host CARIFTA),” Sandsbegan. “Any time they step forward to do it, that is exciting for us because at the endof the day it is very expensive and the onus is on the potential host to step forward.We can not force members to do it. When they come forward, they would have hadtheir request authority from their Governments to express their bid because at theend of the day it is the Governments for the most part that really pick up the tab.”
Hosting CARIFTA has been a fairly costly exercise in recent years. This year’s hostGrenada spent way over EC $10 million according to Grenada Athletics Association
(GAA) President Conrad Francis. When The Bahamas hosted the 2023 Games, it cost$6.8 million for them to host and similarly when it was in Jamaica in 2022, the firstyear since the COVID-19 pandemic after a two-year hiatus, it was estimated to costjust under US $1 million.
Despite these financial challenges that come with hosting this competition, Sands isbullish about its future.
“In no way am I concerned (about the future of CARIFTA),” he said. “When you look atwhen CARIFTA started in 1972, it is now the longest running junior championshipanywhere in the world. What it has produced for us in terms of the fact theCaribbean is known as a sporting region and I would dare say athletics is top of thatlist. When you look across the spectrum at the persons that would have comethrough the CARIFTA system, many of them today are in high society. Whether it bepolitics or any other high profession, I don’t believe they or any of their Governmentswould ever allow CARIFTA to die.
He concluded “It is a question of finding the proper funding and the fact that itmoves around to different islands helps a lot. It gives the upcoming nations theopportunity to plan properly and go to corporate sponsors or going to Governmentor a combination of the two. There is an economic boost to hosting the event toofrom the rental cars to accommodations, restaurants and souvenirs. There needs tobe a collaboration from the federation, the Government, the tourism board so thateveryone can come together and make the event successful.”
Barbados has announced intentions to the NACAC to bid for the rights to host the2028 CARIFTA Games once their stadium is completed.
The post Sands: Barbados not hosting CARIFTA 53’ a disappointment appeared first on nationnews.com.
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