By SAMPSON BONAI
THE PNG Football Association’s calendar spells a hectic year for soccer.
The highlights will be three overseas tournaments that national teams will participate in.
The Under 23 soccer squad will take part in the Olympic Qualifier tournament in Fiji on March 2-16, the women’s team will play its second away Olympic qualifier against New Zealand in Auckland and a junior side will take part in Under 12 festival in Noumea on May 25-31.
PNGFA general secretary Dimrit Mileng released the 2008 calendar in Lae yesterday, adding there was a likelihood of a charity match against Australia.
The women will go into their two-week trial training camp at the PNGFA Academy this weekend.
A final squad of 22 will be announced after the camp to go into training in Port Moresby on Feb 4-29.
The women have a game against New Zealand on March 8 in Port Moresby and a return match on March 12 in Auckland, New Zealand.
The Under 23 Olympic Qualifier squad will go into the trial training camp in Lae on Jan 28-29 for a final squad to be selected for the Fiji games.
An OFC coaching course will also be held at the soccer academy on Feb 11-15 and a charity international match between PNG and Australia is set for Feb 24 in Port Moresby.
No date has yet been set for a finance and administration to be conducted at PNGFA Academy.
Wau and Goroka have been selected to host the Momase and Highlands Regional Soccer FA Cup tournaments from March 20-24 respectively in their respective regions.
Member associations should start their season proper competitions on April 5-6 and the deadline for all the member association’s annual subscriptions and the player registration fees is April 30.
The O League preliminary tournament will be played in Port Moresby at a date to be fixed.
The national club championships have been scheduled for September 11-15 with the venue yet to be decided.
Meanwhile, OFC has released the Under 23 draws in Auckland recently.
Oceania Football Confederation has pitted OFC heavyweights New Zealand against hosts Fiji in the opening round.
The tournament will run on March 1-9 and the winner of the six team competition will earn a spot at the Olympic Football Tournament in Beijing in August.
The OFC Men’s Olympic Football tournament will follow a round robin format with each team playing five games and the winner decided on points.
Tahiti and New Caledonia were eligible to play in the tournament but did not enter as they are not members of the International Olympic Committee and would not be able to compete at the Olympics.
New Zealand will face Fiji in the opening round on March 1st in a match which is likely to draw a large crowd from the local support.