BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

A new director from the Caribbean and the rest of the Americas will be appointed on the board of the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA). CMC understands that Octavia Gibson, president of the Barbados Netball Association (BNA), was nominated by her board in a baffling turn of events, and other Caribbean territories have given her their support.

She will replace her compatriot and predecessor Annette Beckett in the position at the IFNA Congress during the World Championships taking place in New Zealand between November 10 and 17.

The other territories in the region had nominated Beckett, but the fact that she was not nominated by her country stopped the region from going to a vote.

With Gibson being the only nominee for the position, she became the Americas director, and Beckett was greatly surprised by the BNA's decision.

"I was given no indication that my country did not think I was performing effectively and so was looking for someone to replace me," she said.

Beckett thanked the region for their support over the years and assures them that whenever she is asked again, she will have no difficulty in continuing to represent the region. She had served as the regional delegate and IFNA director, since 1999, when the sport's world governing body became a limited liability company.