Socga’s annual general meeting |22 March 2017

New executive committee to be elected Saturday

Incumbent Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) president Antonio Gopal will be challenged by two candidates during the local Olympic body’s annual general meeting this coming Saturday when a new executive committee will be elected.

The meeting will take place at the Eden Bleu hotel starting at 9am.

Lucas Georges and Terrence Barbé are the challengers for the post of president of Socga which represents both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).

Socga was previously known as Seychelles National Olympic Committee (Snoc) until March 2007. Snoc came into existence in 1979 when Seychelles became a member of the IOC.

Sports federations and associations nominate candidates, who are then elected by secret ballot to serve on Socga’s executive committee. Candidates need not be members of any federation or association, but they have to be nominated by sporting federations and associations who are members of Socga.

Challenged by Ronald Wong for the presidency in 2013, Mr Gopal won the vote on a 17-6 score for a sixth consecutive four-year mandate as president. He was first elected president in 1992 after serving as an ordinary member on the first Seychelles National Olympic Committee (Snoc) executive committee from 1979 to 1982 and as secretary general on the second from 1982 to 1991.

After retaining his post as vice-president in 2013 after amassing 18 votes – the same total he got in 2007 ‒ Hughes Adam is the only candidate for the post of vice-president.

Mr Adam first took office in 1997 and was re-elected as vice-president after 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013.

Unchallenged for this coming Saturday’s election, Alain Alcindor will be vying for a fourth mandate as secretary general after taking up the post for the first time in 2005 before being re-elected in 2009 and 2013.

Alcindor first joined the local Olympic body as an ordinary member in 1994.

Re-elected as treasurer after winning the poll 15-8 against Charlie Ng Ping Cheun in 2013, Mary Banane, who was first elected into the post in 2009 after taking over from Ivan Roberts who resigned in September 2007, is also unchallenged.

The nine candidates running for the four ordinary member posts are Selby Dora, Michel Bau, Tracey Hétimier, Donald Célestine, Norbert Dogley, Lucas Georges, Terrence Barbé, Jeffrey Lagrenade and Fatime Kanté.

Dora, Hétimier, Célestine and Bau are the current ordinary members, while Simone Malbrook was athletes’ commission representative.

The athletes’ commission falls under Socga and its new chairperson is Anna Barra who will replace Malbrook on the new executive. The other four members will be known on Saturday.

Representatives of the athletes’ commission and the 22 associations and federations affiliated to Socga are allowed to vote during the elections.

The 22 sports federations and associations are track and field athletics, boxing, basketball, badminton, volleyball, football, table tennis, tennis, swimming, judo, karate, handball, hockey, petanque, canoeing, chess, cycling, squash, gymnastics, weightlifting, yachting and netball.

The athletes’ commission and all the 22 associations and federations have one vote.

G. G.