Seasoned sports administrator Keith Joseph of the St Vincent and the Grenadines is the new president of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC). Joseph won comfortably over his Jamaican challenger Christopher Samuda by a count of 17-9, successfully replacing former president Brian Lewis.

Joseph earned the majority of votes on the second and final day of the XX CANOC General Assembly, attended by 26 of the 30 member National Olympic Committees (NOC's) and Commonwealth Games Federations (CFG's) in Trinidad and Tobago from November 4-5.

Joseph campaigned on a record of achievement of the last CANOC executive, in which he served as the secretary general. The highlight of the last term was the successful staging of the 2022 Caribbean Games in Guadeloupe, which returned to the sports calendar after a 13-year hiatus.

Meanwhile, Lewis himself got the nod from the membership to serve as the secretary general by a vote of 14-12 over Antigua and Barbuda’s Cliff Williams. The Virgin Islands’ John Abramson conceded the post of first vice president to the Cayman Islands’ Carson Ebanks by a vote of 16-10 while Ytannia Wiggins of Barbados (18) and Guadeloupe’s Alain Soreze (19) retained positions as executive member.

Edith Cox was returned unopposed as treasurer.

The Joesph-led administration will appoint a second vice-president as the post was not filled via nominations.

Jamaica’s Christopher Samuda and St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Keith Joseph are the two candidates for the presidency of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) when the organization meets for its 20^th General Assembly November 4-5 at the Hyatt Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

The elections will serve to select the members of the CANOC Executive Committee for the quadrennial period, 2022-2026 following Day 1 of the ninth CANOC workshop.

Samuda, who is president of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) or Joseph, the General Secretary of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Olympic Committee, will replace the incumbent Brian Lewis of Trinidad and Tobago who will be going up against Antigua and Barbuda’s Cliff Williams for the position of CANOC Secretary General.

Meantime, vying for the post of vice-president are John Abramson of the US Virgin Islands and Carson Ebanks of the Cayman Islands.

Edith Cox of the Turks and Caicos is the only candidate for the post of treasurer while Ytannia Wiggins of Barbados, Alain Soreze of Guadeloupe, Bruce Farara of Montserrat and Alan Sharpe of Belize are in the running for executive members.

The nominations commission chaired by Sandra Osborne, SCM, KC, will supervise and manage the voting process to deliver secure results for all Executive Committee elections as well as decisions on selection of the host for the second edition of the Caribbean Games.

The Executive Report on CANOC’s stewardship over the past four years, the report on the Inaugural Caribbean Game and bid presentations for host of the 2025 Caribbean Games, will be the main features on Day 2.

As part of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) commitment to the United Nations Sport for Climate Action (S4CA) Framework and the support to the Olympic Movement to protect our planet, CANOC will be attempting to minimize the use of paper at the workshop and general assembly, offering instead, as many documents as possible in digital format.

Six people remain in police custody in Grenada in connection with the attack on world javelin champion Anderson Peters on the Harbour Master party time on the Spice Island on Wednesday night, the Royal Grenada Police reported on Friday.

Investigations are continuing about the incident wherein the athlete was involved in a brawl with several men said to be from Trinidad and Tobago but so far no charges have been filed, police said. However, there are concerns over the athlete’s health following the incident.

The police said he was treated at a hospital and released but Paul Phillip, who coaches the athlete revealed on the Sportsmax Zone on Friday evening that Peters’ suffered injury to his left ankle as well as bruises to his elbow, neck and face.

According to Phillip, the ankle injury is of greatest concern as that is the ankle Peters’ throws off and it appears he has suffered a sprain which could prevent him from competing at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on August 26.

The incident has drawn strong reactions across the region including Brian Lewis, President of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) who expressed “shock and dismay” at the incident.

Discussions at a diplomatic level have also been engaged between representatives of Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago, who have said that it is hoped that justice will be served.