2015 Pacific Games bids face strict requirements

Three countries bidding to host the 2015 Pacific Games face strict requirements following reported difficulties with the upcoming Mini Games in the Cook Islands.

A bid assessment team from the Pacific Games Council has already been to the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and next week they travel to Papua New Guinea. All three nations applied in March to host the Pacific Games.

On September 27, in Raratonga, Cook Islands, 22 Pacific Island countries will decide on the winning bid during a break in the Mini Games.

Andrew Minogue, executive director of the Pacific Games Council says all the bids were looking good.

There had been changes in the approach to selection after reports that host Cook Islands was still unsettled, particularly over broadcasting rights.

But since 2004, when the Cook Islands was awarded the smaller event, there had been big changes to the Council's charter.