 In the lead up to the 2009 World Youth Championship, there was considerable anxiety over the facilities, and whether they would be up to world standards. The Prime Minister of the Cook Islands reconfirmed that his government would deliver a new venue. Because of this, the International Netball Federation reaffirmed their support for hosting the event in the Cook Islands. The Chinese government offered to step in and loan the country NZ $ 9,300,000 to help pay the costs for constructing the facility. The loan was controversial as some organisations felt the country had misplaced priorities. During the planning and preparation period in the lead up to the 2009 World Youth Championship, the government sought to increase the size of the loan for the facility to NZ $ 13,000,000. The opposition leader Norman George was unhappy with how the government handled the whole situation regarding new sporting facilities to be built for the World Youth Netball Championships and the 2009 Pacific Mini Games.
