Minister for Youth and Sports Laisenia Tuitubou has con­firmed that the Government continues to give grants to athletes pre­paring for the Commonwealth Games.

Responding to questions raised by SO­DELPA Opposition MP Ratu Suliano Ma­tanitoboa, Mr Tuitubou assured the MPs that Government was committed to give grants for the athletes’ preparation.

Mr Tuitubou said Government grants allocated for the Commonwealth Games 2018 was $1,791,547.

From this total, $1,124,060 was for team preparation and $667,487 was for the cost associated with the team’s participation in the Commonwealth Games.

Mr Tuitubou said the Team Fiji contin­gent consisted of 96 athletes and 45 offi­cials.

Team Fiji will be compete in athletics, badminton, weightlifting, rugby 7s, net­ball, table tennis, squash, beach volley­ball, swimming, lawn bowling, shooting and boxing.

“I am sure MPs of this house will join me in support for the team for its success­ful outing in the Gold Coast in the coming weeks,” he said.

The Commonwealth Games will begin next month at the Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast, Australia.

Edited by Percy Kean

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