THE Bahamas could host this year’s staging of the 40th CARIFTA Games, said Jamaican track and field boss Neville ‘Teddy’ McCook.

McCook, president of North American Central American and Caribbean track and field association (NACAC), told the Observer yesterday that documents had been sent to the Bahamian track bosses on Thursday and they are now awaiting a response.

The staging of this year’s meet has been in doubt since last year when St Kitts, who were to host the championships, withdrew.

It was learnt that Jamaica, who has hosted the meet six times with the latest in 1996, would have taken it up, but Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association’s (JAAA) boss Howard Aris had shot down that rumour last year.

The other times Jamaica hosted the event were 1974, 1979, 1982, 1988 and 1990.

The championships, that has given vital international exposure for Caribbean track and field stars since 1972, is traditionally held over the Easter weekend, and due to the late observance of the Christian holiday this year, it would prove to be too much for the JAAA to host the up to 30 countries expected to take part.

The meet will be held April 22-24 and Aris told the Observer recently that the close proximity to the Jamaica International Invitational ((JII) would prove too much for his organisation.

The JII meet is held on the first Saturday in May and is slated to be held on May 7 and Aris noted that trying to plan and organise both meets at the same time, could be more than what the JAAA would be able to take on.

McCook said yesterday that “the Bahamas has an interest” and added he had discussions with representatives of the Ministries of Sports and Tourism and he said one of the main concerns was that the “Bahamian government was not t be exposed financially”.

He said, however, they had quieted those concerns by providing proof that the funds for running the meet were already in place.

He did not give a deadline for when a decision was to be made, but remarked that the last time Jamaica held the Championships, they had six weeks to plan for it.

He hastened to point out, however, that he hoped it would not go that far.

If the meet is being held in the Bahamas, it would be held in Freeport where there is a fairly new track.

A new stadium is being constructed in the Bahamas which is set to be completed this year and is hoped will host the 2013 staging of the IAAF World Youth Championships (WYC).

The Bahamas is said to be one of the front-runners for the 2013 WYC, ahead of Greenborough, North Carolina in the USA and a European country.

Eleven different countries have hosted the CARIFTA championships, and Bermuda is down to host the event in 2012.