April 3, 2004

The South Pacific Mini Games council has voted to award the right to host the 2009 South Pacific Mini Games to the Cook Islands. The council voted 28-15 for the Cook Islands over Wallis & Futuna.

The South Pacific Games Council met in Palau, site of the 2005 South Pacific Mini Games, to review planning for those games.

The South Pacific Mini Games have so far been hosted by: Honiara, Solomon Islands (1981), Rarotonga, Cook Islands (1985) Nukualofa, Tonga (1989), Port Vila, Vanuatu (1993), Pago Pago, American Samoa (1997) and Kingston, Norfolk Island (2001).

Participants in the games are: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Marianas, Palau, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, Tonga, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna and Western Samoa.