MINISTER NAUPOTO - TALKING POINTS ON FIJI SPORTS COMMISSION

08/02/2013


Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning!

Today, I am pleased to announce that the Fiji Sports Commission is established and that is being done by the appointment of the Board.

I have appointed Mr Peter Mazey as the Chairperson of the Board and in the interim will act as the Executive Chairpersons until the Board appoints a Chief Executive Officer for the Fiji Sports Commission.

The other Board Members are: Ms Cathy Wong, Mr David Voss and MrSashi Kant Dhanji who are from private sector and as per the Sports Commission Decree. The other members of the Board are the PS for Youth and Sports (as the Deputy Chair) the PS for Finance, the CEO for the Fiji Sports Council, and yet to be appointed are 3 members from the Sporting Federations.

These Board members bring together a good mix of skills and experience in business, sports administration and sports science and medicine and I thank them for accepting to serve in the Sports Commission.

The Fiji Sports Commission represents a new direction for Sports in Fiji.

It takes sports development to new levels. The beneficiary of this new Government initiative (The Sports Commission) will not only be the sporting organization, but will include the growth of sports in our communities for both the young and old.

Sports and sport development has proven to promote community development and national building.

The future for the Sports Commission and the direction we take depends on working together and consultation with Fiji’s established sporting organisations, our sports people, and our communities.

It will take sports development to all areas of Fiji to enable us to identify the many talented athletes out there, who otherwise may not have had the opportunity to develop their “God given” talents.

The Sports Commission will work with the worlds sports commissions to create a platform for our talented and elite athletes to help with their development.

The establishment of the Fiji Sports Commission is the result of Government realization that our Sports people contribute substantially to our economy.

Fijian professional and elite athletes overseas contribute through remittances sent back to Fiji and as such are one of our countries biggest exports and foreign exchange earners.

The Sports Commission is an investment in Fiji’s future.

The Commission will be located here in the Sports City because of its close collaboration with the Fiji Sports Council and for the convenience of the Sporting Federations.

One of the first tasks of the Commission is to organize the Annual Sports Awards. This used to be organized by the Fiji Sports Council and FASANOC. It will now be organized by the Fiji Sports Commission.