The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FORGET the second version of the Chris Brown Bahamas Invitational. It’s official. The country’s top quarter-miler said he has to scrap plans for the return of the biggest private meet to come to the Bahamas for the second consecutive year.

After meeting with the Bahamas Government on Monday to determine what level of funding he would receive to host the event at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium on April 11, just ahead of the second IAAF World Relays in May, Brown said he is forced to abandon those plans.

“The government is not making themselves available, so I don’t have time to play. I left my family to come here to try and get this organised and now I have to pack my bags and leave because it won’t happen,” Brown told The Tribune. “It’s one thing to make a promise, but it’s a next thing to go ahead and fulfil the promise and make sure that the promise is answered. You can’t make the promise and not fulfil it.”

When pressed in a meeting about just how much will be allocated to him, Brown said he was only told “don’t worry about that. We are going to support the event.” But he said it doesn’t make any sense with this being the final week in February and he doesn’t have any concrete answer to work with.

“This event is under the sports tourism umbrella, so I expected for them to be able to give me something to work with,” Brown said. “I never got any assurance or any commitment on what, if any funding, is available for me to be able to pull the meet off, so I can’t go ahead with it.”

Brown, 36, hosted a successful debut of the event in 2013 when he brought in a number of top international athletes to compete. However, the second version of the CBBI last year was cancelled as the government had to concentrate on a major renovation of the new TAR Stadium ahead of hosting the IAAF World Relays.

“For the past six months, I’ve been hearing the government saying they are going to support the event,” said Brown, who resides in Atlanta, Georgia, with his family.

“Nothing has come through. I can’t live like that. I can’t adapt to the situation that this is how I live. I keep getting brushed off. It is what it is. But I can’t go on like this.”

With a number of stars already lined up to come here to compete in the meet, Brown, who was on hand Saturday at the Club Monica Track Classic to beef up the support for his meet, said he’s quite disappointed that, as a Bahamian, he’s had to cancel again.

“It’s very disappointing, not just for me but for the younger generation of athletes who are coming behind, who would have been able to benefit from this event tremendously,” he said. “This was going to open the door for them to display their skills to the world. So it’s a domino effect.”

With this being another year with the IAAF World Championships on the horizon in August in Beijing, China, one year ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Brown said he will return to the United States to resume his training in preparation to continue his career.

“I’m just going to put in the work now to start my 2015 debut,” said Brown, who hopes to start his season at the 106th Drake Relays April 22-26. “I’m really looking forward to competing again this year, so I need to get back so I can start putting in my training.”

Brown said he knew a lot of people were looking for the return of the event, but because he couldn’t get the full support of the Bahamas Government, he was left with no other choice but to call it off.

“It’s very mind-boggling because nobody can tell me why I can’t get the financial support,” Brown said. “I never got a definite reason why I can’t have the event when this was already on the calendar. Somebody should have been able to tell me why. I’m not a kid, I’m not a baby. I at least expected to get an answer, rather than being led on that I will get the support and then I don’t get it.”

With the meet cancelled, Brown said he doesn’t expect that he will return to compete again in the IAAF World Relays in May.