By PETER KORUGL
THE third PNG Games is into its third day peacefully in Lae but there is big trouble in the engine room, throwing the future sponsorship of the games into question.
The trouble resulted in a near fist fight at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium on Saturday and yesterday Telikom PNG Limited withdrew its sponsorship package worth K71,000 from the games.
Telikom employees were trying to erect their stall at the stadium but were confronted by PNG Sports Foundation employees and had to leave, forcing their employer to withdraw the sponsorship committed to games.
“We are really very sorry about this. We are a local company and the local people we want to help will not benefit from this sponsorship,” John Avira announced in Lae on behalf of acting CEO Ere Kariko.
The organising committee and the Morobe administration expressed disappointment with the PNGSF.
Provincial administrator Manasupe Zurenuoc expressed concern about the games’ future due to the issue of sponsorship that has been played out between the PNGSF, Digicel PNG Limited and Telikom.
However, PNGSF executive director John Kambuou said the Games were owned by PNGSF and the earlier decision he took to commit PNGSF to Digital was to maintain “corporate ethics” to ensure continued strong corporate sponsorships in future major events.
“I do not have an offer in front of me from Telikom. I have no paper but I have one. It came from Digital.
“I wrote to both of them and Digital responded. We signed the agreement. You have to respect corporate ethics,” Kambuou said.
Kambuou remarks were in response to comments raised by administrator Zurenuoc that the PNGSF did not have the power over sponsorships, marketing and licensing and it should not have entered into the agreement with Digital in the first place.
“I have perused the agreement and fail to find anything in the agreement that makes Digicel the sole communications sponsor for the games,” Manasupe said.
In a letter to Kambuou on Saturday, Zurenuoc said under the Games Charter, the organising committee was vested with the power over sponsorship, marketing and licensing for the games.
“For this reason the Sports Foundation had not authority to enter into a sponsorship agreement with Digicel.
“The Sports Foundation and Games council have respected the role of the host organising committee, however only in the area of communication sponsorship the Sports Foundation has interfered with the organising committee. Why?” Zurenuoc said in the letter.
Zurenuoc said the PNG Games concept was still in its infancy and needs all assistance it required.
He said the Digicel sponsorship did not reach the organising committee and it was not known what it would be used for.
“We own the games. The organising committee is a subsidiary of the PNGSF and it is responsible for running the games only,” Kambuou replied when asked if PNGSF had the power to handle sponsorships.
The Morobe provincial government provided K150,000 towards the games and the provincial administration was disappointed with the decision by Telikom .