(ATR) Plans to hold the first ANOC World Beach Games in San Diego fall apart.
A statement from the San Diego Organizing Committee says the the Association of National Olympic Committees has pulled the event "due to challenges securing the necessary funding".
The statement says the games "will be relocated to another country".
A statement from ANOC confirms the change "to a new host city to ensure it provides the best possible environment for NOCs and their athletes".
"The Games will take place in 2019 and ANOC is currently in discussion with a number of cities that have the financial guarantees necessary and a proven track record to host a world-class event. An announcement on the new host city will be made in due course," says the statement from ANOC.
The cancellation of San Diego was approved May 24 at an ANOC executive committee meeting in Lausanne.
The ANOC World Beach Games were to be held Oct. 10 to 15. About 1300 athletes were to compete in 15 sports and 17 disciplines. About 70 NOCs are expected to send teams.
The event was to have been held following the annual ANOC General Assembly in San Diego. It is possible that this meeting of 206 NOCs, the largest annual meeting directly involving the Olympics, will be moved from San Diego as well.
The statement from San Diego organizers was published today on the games website, which now appears to be defunct.
"We respect ANOC’s decision and will remain in communication with their team. We greatly appreciate everyone’s work on diligently preparing our city for the games. While it may not happen this year, San Diego will always be a wonderful location for major international events, and, the San Diego Exploratory Foundation will continue pursuing opportunities to host many more exciting activities in the future," says the San Diego statement.
Chairman Vincent Mudd, in an interview with Around the Rings earlier this year indicated that finding financial support for the beach games was not easy.
"We’re working hard and there are a lot of people who have shown great interest in this property. We don’t have everything right now but we’re working hard to get as much of this resolved as fast as we can. But I think our expectation and the expectation of our group is it’s going to continue to be very challenging, very difficult, and we’ll rush to the very end before we have everything in place," Mudd told ATR in March.
At that time, Mudd said that a presenting sponsor had not been found though other lower tier sponsors had signed on.
Reported by Ed Hula.
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