The Pacific Games Council is "cautiously optimistic" the Northern Marianas (CNMI) will agree to host a truncated Mini Games in 2021, the council chief executive says.
A long jumper at the Vanuatu Mini Games in 2017 Photo: Peter Carroll/Van 2017 Media
As the country prioritises repairing damage caused by last October's Super Typhoon Yutu, the CNMI has signalled it wants to withdraw from hosting the event.
But the council has proposed a Mini Games scaled back from 12 sports to six, at a cost of $US3 million down from eight.
Chief executive Andrew Minogue and council president Vidhya Lakhan met with CNMI Governor Ralph Torres, Lieutenant Governor Arnold Palacios and the Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association this week to discuss the proposal.
Minogue said the original cost of hosting the event was the CNMI's main concern.
"That's what they've presented to us is that the budget situation is already very tight in the CNMI. Then they've had this super typhoon and their funding and their energy have got to be prioritised in terms of the recovery," Minogue said.
"We're very sympathetic to that so that's why we've offered them the ability to scale the games back... down to a level that we think is affordable even within the context of the recovery efforts.
"We're hopeful that we've offered them something they can fit into their overall plans for recovering from the typhoon and to use the games as a catalyst for that recovery."
Minogue said the Mini Games needed to have a minimum of five events but he was not prepared to say which sports the CNMI might host.
New Caledonia dominated karate at the Mini Games in 2017. Photo: Peter Carroll/Van 2017 Media
His visit included viewings of the country's sporting venues, "the damaged ones and the ones that aren't damaged so much."
"We think that we could do six sports today if we had to," Minogue said.
"The six sports could be housed in facilities that at the very most only need a small amount of refurbishment."
The CNMI has only been given a month to decide if it will retain the hosting rights, in case the council has to find an alternative host, Minogue said.
"With the Pacific Games coming up in Samoa (in July) and some of the council meetings that are happening there, if we do need to find another location that's the time when we'd want to confirm it," he said.
But given the unanimous vote of council members to award the Mini Games to the CNMI in 2014, Minogue said there was support to keep the event there.
"What I think that was an indicator of was that it was their time, it was their turn and the region wanted to come to Saipan for the first time."
With increasing levels of interest from smaller Pacific nations to host the Mini Games, it was unclear if the CNMI would get another opportunity in the near future to host the tournament, if it decides to pull out, Minogue said.
More sports could also be added to an abbreviated CNMI games, "if the budget situation improves".