Lelai in Europe for meet

Sports

By JACK AMI
PAPUA New Guinea Athletes National Olympic Committee (Anoc) chairman Karo Lelai, is attending the Anoc executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, this week.
“This will be my first executive board meeting,” Lelai, who was elected Anoc Athletes’ Commission chairman in Japan in November, said.
“I am looking forward to meeting my fellow board members and working to see how I can leverage this position as an athlete representative in the mother body of all national Olympic committees for PNG and Oceania’s benefit.
“I am also the only person from basketball in the executive board, so Fiba were most excited when David Crocker advised them of my elevation. I will also be visiting the House of Fiba in Mies to meet key officials, International Basketball Foundation chief executive Florian Wanninger, secretary-general Andrias Zagklis and players’ commission’s Javier Deshyes Lopez.”
Lelai said Wanninger had been to PNG twice.
“Apart from briefing Fiba on status of basketball in PNG, I will also be negotiating the extension of the grant that Fiba have given to us which enables us to engage employees,” she said.
“The current term of grant expired on Dec 31.
“We applied for an extension in January 2018, but various factors have delayed a response.
“Fiba Oceania supports our application and my visit will be part of the efforts to get this favourably across the line.
“It is possible that the form of assistance from Fiba may change but we shall see.
“We submit timely acquittals on all funds received from the grant.”