Tongan athletes stranded

 THE Tongan Pacific Games athletes left stranded at Fua’amotu Airport in Nukualofa have taken chartered flights to Nadi in Fiji, hoping to catch connecting flights to PNG in time for their events.

According to an ABC report, the 56 athletes found out at the airport that they did not have tickets for their flights. They were under the impression that the Tonga Sports Association had bought the tickets for them.

Many of the athletes are participating in netball and athletics.

Pesi Fonua, the editor and publisher of Matangi Tonga, said a spokesman for the sports association blamed the incident on senior officials. Fonua said the association president, general secretary and chef de mission of Team Tonga were already in Port Moresby.

Meanwhile, Pacific Games Council executive director Andrew Minogue told ABC that while travel complications were not unheard of ahead of the Pacific Games, having athletes stuck halfway to the events was “a strange situation”.

He said there was a chance the first matches of certain team sports could be deferred until the athletes arrived.