A civil suit has been filed by the PGC and the TASANOC, who are both seeking millions of dollars worth of damages for breach of contract.

Tongan Prime Minister ʻAkilisi Pōhiva confirmed the Government were preparing for the case after they were issued a Summons of Writ by the Supreme Court.

Tonga pulled out of staging the 2019 edition of the Games in May of last year owing to financial concerns.

The PGC then warned they could sue the Tongan Government for breach of contract.

The Government were initially given until June 30 to address financial fears over staging the event but Pōhiva refused.

He told PGC President Vidhya Lakhan and chief executive Andrew Minogue at a meeting, held as part of a last-ditch effort to ensure the event remained in Tonga, that "the Government wished to focus its resources on other more important areas of economic development and that sport was not an urgent priority for the Government". 

The event was then awarded to Samoa in September.

Minogue told Radio New Zealand that the PGC were seeking damages for the losses that the organisation has suffered "as a result of that unilateral decision with no consultation from the Government".

He said there were "three parts" to the damages they have incurred, including unpaid fees, costs of the bidding process to find a replacement and "brand damage".

"As the owners of the event we have got the ability to scale it down, reduce the size of it, possibly cutting some sports or limiting the entries by athletes," Minogue said. 

"There are all sort of methods we could have employed to keep the costs down and to keep the Games in Tonga where they should have been. 

"So it was disappointing that we couldn't go through that process with the Government. 

"We were prepared to do it and it left really with no alternative to (a) find another host and (b) I think send a very clear statement to them and to future host countries that you just can't this sort of unilateral action."