NOCs News -- Divac for NOC Presidency, Maetola Explains His Side

Divac Running for Serbian NOC President

NBA star and two-time Olympian Vlade Divac announced he is running for president of the Serbian Olympic Committee.

Divac made the announcement at a press conference late last week and was quoted by the Associated Press saying he wants to help "create conditions for (good) results of our sportsmen."

Divac's candidacy was proposed by the Basketball Federation of Serbia.

Since retiring from professional basketball, Divac has lived in his native Serbia where he is a businessman and runs a non-profit.

Divac competed at the Seoul and Atlanta Olympics for his native Yugoslavia.

Solomon Islands President Defends Himself

The president of the Solomon Islands NOC says he has done nothing wrong.

In a letter written to, and published in the Solomon Star, Fred Maetoloa says he never misused any NOC funds.

"The culture of corruption which had thrived within NOCSI and the general sporting fraternity of Solomon Islands in recent times had to stop and not be allowed to survive," Maetoloa wrote.

He added that the allegations brought against him were due to a candidate losing the election.

"Daniel Fa'alimae, a candidate for the same position [Vice President of Solidarity] lost the contest and understandably become very bitter and personal."

Fa'alimae said Maetoloa had manipulated the elections to ensure his election and Vice President of Solidarity Naoyuki Fujiyama's victory.

"The election results, may I add, were free and fair. The process under which the election took place was supervised by very senior and reputable officials from ONOC and IOC. And Daniel and his friends ought to see and respect that important process... Mr Fujiyama was never hand-picked. He was elected by sensible voters." Maetoloa added that Fa'alimae's actions showed "immaturity."

He also remarked that Fa'alimae was not completely clean.

"I hope that Daniel and his friends will cooperate with the new executive to shed some light on many unanswered questions on unaccounted funds for their respective federations, irregular payments under their personal names and for the damages done to multi-purpose hall and the missing assets from the NOCSI office including, at least four laptops, office furniture, a fridge, air conditioning unit, a grass cutter, a lawn mower and a few other items."

Maetoloa concluded by saying his tenure will be marked by transparency and openness "encouraging equal participation to all who are capable and can show genuine leadership in administering national federations."

"In view of the nature of these experiences, I have personally requested PricewaterhouseCoopers to design a new internal accounting system for NOCSI.

"And we will soon have that system established and implemented.

"This will help minimize the occurrence of fraud and mismanagement of funds in the future.

"Finally, may I kindly call upon Daniel and his friends to refrain from engaging in media speculation and to accept the NOCSI election results and let us work together."

Fiji NOC Signs Agreement to Send Athletes Overseas

The Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) signed a deal to train elite athletes for the 2012 Olympics.

FASANOC inked a deal with England's North West Regional Development Agency to send 10 athletes to train in London. The deal is worth $70,000.

FASANOC President Vidhya Lakhan said national federations in athletics, archery, badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling, football, hockey, judo, sailing, shooting, table tennis, weightlifting and volleyball will be able to nominate athletes for the program.

The funds for the program will be released in 2011 but FASANOC President Vidhya Lakhan said he wants the money sooner.

"[D]iscussions are continuing and we want to send our athletes from next year. Instead of an 18-month or two-year attachment, we want to make it a four-year program starting next year."

"Under the program, 10 Fiji athletes will be allowed to train, study or even work part time in London.

"They can pursue an academic career on full-time scholarship, train at the same time or be attached to a club."

Lakahan also said coaches and development officials will travel to Fiji to train certain teams.

"We can't send an entire team to London so the coaches will be coming to work with the various sporting federations," he said.

Written by Ed Hula III.