Press Release:
The Samoa Association of Sport and National Olympic Committee has suspended the entire Samoa Triathlon Federation, effective immediately.
We are disappointed SASNOC has chosen to ignore the voices of members who voted 46 to 1, to remove the previous Executive and then voted unanimously for new leadership. This Federation had been a mess for a long time, with no AGM since 2015, no financial accountability for 8 years, an absent and inactive Executive – which all led to the Federation being deregistered by the government (MCIL) in 2020. SASNOC enabled this poor leadership by failing to do its job and actually check whether sports federations are fulfilling their obligations to members.
So as athletes, parents, and coaches, dedicated to the sport we love, we tried our best to fix the Federation, by following our constitution to elect new leadership who are active in triathlon here in Samoa. People who have been doing all the work and paying for everything, volunteering and organising all the events. But the previous Executive of Seti Afoa, Mike Webster and Rajendra Singh refused to let go.
Now the Federation is suspended. If it remains suspended by September 1st, then SASNOC will take over our team so we can still represent Samoa at the Pacific Games.
In the meantime, our key concern is for the athletes. All of them. From our National Squad training six days a week, to our community athletes of all ages who come to #TryTri with us every month. To you all we say, we will keep going. We ask for your continued support and look forward to welcoming you to our future events.
Next goal for the squad is competing at the Fiji Nationals in September. In a historic first for triathlon in Samoa, we are taking a team of 14 triathletes! We all have a lot of work to do to prepare. But its work worth doing.
Suspension is not the outcome we hoped for.
But perhaps suspending Samoa Triathlon Federation is what’s needed? It is written that to everything there is a season, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to break down and a time to build up. We have seen it is impossible to fix STF. It can only be broken down and cast away, making room for something new to be built. Something better. A sports federation that isnt controlled by the dictates of one man, but that serves all of us.
We eagerly look forward to that.
Triathletes of Samoa.
#SwimBikeRunForever