Steve Stoute said he still expects the inaugural Caribbean Games to be successful—even without recognition from PASO. Despite failing to gain recognition for the Caribbean Games from the Pan American Sports Organization, the head of the Barbados Olympic Association tells Around the Rings the games will still be successful.
Calling the decision from the Pan American Sports Organization a “major disappointment," Barbados NOC chief Steve Stoute says, “I think we will see a good inaugural games.”
Stoute is president of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees, the group organizing the Caribbean Games. The games are scheduled to take place in Port au Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, July 12-19.
A request from CANOC for recognition from PASO was rejected last week during a meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico of the ruling PASO executive committee.
The committee said PASO rules do not permit the organization to recognize the Caribbean Games
Stoute says he is “still trying to understand fully” the decision, noting that other events in the PASO region such as the South American Games and Bolivarian Games seem to have PASO endorsement.
The PASO executive also had some concerns that endorsement might lead to obligations to fund the games.
Stoute says he told PASO financial support was not being sought. But he says the endorsement would have been good “from a marketing perspective."
Stoute says he also has been told that a forthcoming study for the IOC and Association of National Olympic Committees will note the proliferation of regional games and the pressure this places on NOCs.
PASO President Mario Vazquez Rana says PASO “applauds” the efforts of CANOC to organize the Caribbean Games.
“I’m not sure what that means…maybe it means blessing,” says Stoute.
He said he would meet with Caribbean Olympic leaders to determine what is next for the games.
“I just can’t understand why Central America can have their games, the Bolivarians can have their games, the South Americans can have their games, but we in the Caribbean, as our some 26 countries, a large bloc of the PASO family, [can not] have our own games.”
Talks of staging a Caribbean Games began in 1999. Plans took shape for the inaugural games after CANOC was officially formed in 2003.
