SVGOC lodges complaint with CBI

Fuming that St Vincent and the Grenadines’ (SVG) team to the 2016 Olympics currently taking place in Brazil did not get the benefit of being shown live on FLOW television, during last Friday’s opening ceremony, the St Vincent and the Grenadines Olympic Committee (SVGOC) has taken up the issue with the offending broadcasting agent, CANOC Broadcasting Inc (CBI).

In a strongly worded letter sent to chief executive officer of CBI Michael Romany, general secretary of the SVGOC Keith Joseph registered his organization’s disgust as to what unfolded.

“This is totally unacceptable… No amount of apologies would satisfy our people who were led by us, given the word of the CBI, to believe that we had a good deal that would have ended this type of discrimination that we suffered for years with NBC, now only to receive it at the hands of our own CBI….Incompetence is not an acceptable option. One would have expected that the order of the parade of teams would have been known beforehand,” Joseph wrote last Saturday via e-mail.{{more}}

“The disappointment is indeed deep, since the SVGOC was among the first to sign up with the CBI and like other members received assurances of adequate coverage… We are aware that Vincentians everywhere share this disappointment,” Joseph reinforced.

“We can only hope that for the remainder of the Games this situation is appropriately and adequately dealt with,” the SVGOC general secretary’s correspondence concluded.

SVG is represented at the Games in track and field and swimming.

Kineke Alexander and Brandon Valentine-Parris are the track and field hopefuls, while Shne Joachim and Nikolas Sylvester are the two swimmers who are flying the St Vincent and the Grenadines’ flag.

The management team comprises Wayne Williams – chief of mission, Jacintha Ballantyne – chaperone, with Kyle Dougan – swim coach and Kittian Eric Francis listed as the track and field coach.(RT)