The games promote friendship between member islands

The Estonian island of Saaremaa had expressed an interest in holding the event, but has decided against submitting an official bid.

Anglesey, or Ynys M�n in Welsh, is now vying with the Finnish island of Aland for the games.

The decision will be made in July during the 2005 Games which take place in the Shetland Isles.

Anglesey, which has taken part in the games since they began in 1985, launched its official bid in December. It has never hosted the games, while Aland staged them in 1991.

Islands Games Association Aland, Baltic Sea Alderney, Channel Island Bermuda, North Atlantic Ocean Cayman Islands, Western Caribbean Falkland Islands, South Atlantic Ocean Faroe Islands, North Atlantic Ocean Froya, off Norway Gibraltar, Mediterranean Sea Gotland, Baltic Sea Greenland, North Atlantic Ocean Guernsey, Channel Island Hitra, near Norway Isle of Man, Irish Sea Isle of Wight, off south England Jersey, Channel Island Orkney, off Scotland Prince Edward Island, off mainland Canada Rhodes, Mediterranean Sea Saaremaa, Baltic Sea Sark, Channel Island Shetland Islands, off Scotland St Helena, South Atlantic Ocean Western Isles, North Atlantic Ocean Ynys M�n, off north Wales

A spokesperson for Saareema said officials had carried out a feasibility study and decided the time was not right to stage the games at the moment, although it had confidence it could hold them in the future.

Anglesey's bid comes jointly from the Isle of Anglesey County Council and the Ynys M�n Island Games Association.

Derlwyn Hughes, chair of Anglesey's steering panel said it would be "an honour" to hold the event.

"We have said all along that Ynys M�n has a strong case for staging the 2009 Island Games, and that it would take an exceptional bid to beat ours," he said.

"With over 2,500 athletes expected to compete, the 2009 Island Games have the potential to be Wales' biggest-ever multi-sport international competition."

Bo Frykenstam, chairman of the Island Games Association, led a team to both Aland and Anglesey recently to assess and assist the bid committees.

He said the panel had been impressed by the commitment of the bidding islands.

"Preparations and facilities are excellent and I am sure a successful event is assured whichever one of them is chosen," he said.

The games, held every two years, promote friendship between the member islands.

All 25 members of the islands games' association will now vote on the bids received.