BASSETERRE, St Kitts — In an official announcement made public July 15, the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis has formally withdrawn its bid to host the 2027 CARIFTA Games, after cross-stakeholder consultations concluded staging the premier regional athletics championship in 2027 does not align with the country’s current strategic priorities.
The journey toward this decision began four months prior, during the 2026 iteration of the CARIFTA Games held in April. When no formal bids were submitted for the 2027 edition by the required deadline, both St Kitts-Nevis Athletics and the athletics association of Trinidad and Tobago stepped forward to express preliminary interest in taking on hosting duties.
Shortly after expressions of interest were registered, North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) president Mike Sands announced a critical overhaul of the host selection process during an April 6 press briefing. Under the new policy, all interested national athletics associations must secure a formal financial guarantee from their national government before a host nation is finalized. This rule change was implemented explicitly to avoid repeating past mistakes: when St Kitts and Nevis previously hosted the CARIFTA Games, the local athletics association was left holding unsustainable long-term financial debt after the event concluded.
Following the new framework, St Kitts and Nevis officials conducted weeks of coordinated talks between the national government, St Kitts-Nevis Athletics, and the St Kitts and Nevis Olympic Committee. In an interview with local outlet SKNVibes on July 15, Sports Minister Samal Duggins confirmed that all participating parties reached a unanimous consensus to step back from the 2027 hosting slot.
“Across all relevant institutions, particularly the Olympic Committee, we agree that next year is not the most ideal window for us to host this event,” Duggins explained. “We have formally requested to defer our hosting to a future date, which will be announced at a later time.”
NACAC had previously set a 14-day timeline to select a host once it received all required documentation from interested bidders. As of Wednesday’s announcement, it remains unclear whether Trinidad and Tobago has completed its submission of the required government guarantee documentation to the regional governing body.
Despite withdrawing from the 2027 edition, Duggins emphasized that the government of St Kitts and Nevis remains fully committed to hosting the CARIFTA Games at a more opportune future date. He stressed repeatedly that the decision is rooted in timing, not a lack of enthusiasm or capacity to host the regional tournament.
“The Government is excited to bring the CARIFTA Games back to St Kitts and Nevis,” Duggins said. “We simply sat with all stakeholders and recognized that next year is not the optimal time to deliver a successful event.”
Duggins also outlined the government’s broader long-term strategy for growing the nation’s sports tourism sector, which includes ongoing refurbishment projects for existing sporting infrastructure across the Federation. He pointed to the country’s recently successful hosting of the OECS Championships as proof of St Kitts and Nevis’ ability to deliver high-quality regional and international sporting events, noting this track record reinforces the government’s goal to attract more such competitions in the coming years.
The 2027 CARIFTA Games are currently scheduled to take place over the Easter weekend, running from March 26 to March 29, 2027.