‘Assistance is available for synthetic track’ – Coe

Funding is available to counties like St Vincent and the Grenadines to assist in the erection of a synthetic track.

This point was reiterated to SEARCHLIGHT by vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Sebastian Coe, who was here last Saturday for a meeting {{more}}with local athletics officials.

“There are 10 member countries where we don’t have a synthetic track and St Vincent (and the Grenadines) is one of them…. But an application must be made to the International Athletics Federation,” Coe said.

Coe, who has been a vice-president of the IAAF since 2007, noted, however, that the application must be properly done, before the assistance is assured.

“We need to ensure that the proposal is formalized properly and it gets in to the IAAF next time the Foundation meets … The proposal needs to be built up locally … I know that there is a site that has been identified,” he added.

The man who is seeking to replace Lamine Diack as head of the IAAF, Coe pointed out that the funds disbursed would be on a case by case basis, and dependant on the specifics.

Coe said that the next meeting of the Foundation is in November in Monaco. Hence, St Vincent and the Grenadines has to act now, if they want their proposal reviewed.

Speaking from some background knowledge of St Vincent and the Grenadines’ resources, Coe referred to the heavy equipment being used for the Argyle international airport, which could be used to construct the track to reduce its overall cost.

Another condition for receipt of the track is for member associations to secure from Government, a piece of land on which to lay down the track.

In recent times, several persons here have reopened the conversation, calling for the authorities to pursue the construction of a synthetic track for St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Three years ago, interest had heightened when Michael Tovar, a representative from the renowned Mondo track company, visited the country. On that visit, Tovar looked at two possible sites, the Sion Hill Playing Field and the proposed venue for the National Stadium at Diamond. Tovar, within weeks, sent back the specifications to the relevant authorities; however, no decisive action has been taken. (RT)