43 teams confirmed for EPC football tournament: Bukoya

The annual Eastern Papua Carnival (EPC) kicks off in Port Moresby on Oct 26, with 32 men’s teams and 11 women’s sides confirmed for the football tournament.
Last year, Maiyela walked away with K10,000 and the title.
Three teams from the Trobriand Islands are travelling in to participate. Latama have arrived to Port Moresby and are settling in.
Okeboma will be flying in this week, according to manager Daniel Mwadeda. Okupukopu will travel by sea.
The young guns from the Okupukopu village have raised funds to pay for their airfares and have contributed to pay their affiliation and registration fees by selling crabs.
Pastor Toyamina, their mentor and the man who has coordinated their efforts, was a proud man when he paid the fees.
“These village boys have dreams. One of their dreams is to travel to Port Moresby and the second is to play football in the Eastern Papua Carnival,” he said.
“Now, I can praise God that two of these dreams will come true.”
There will be four men’s pools and two women’s pools.
General secretary George Bukoya is calling on all the sides to ensure all their master sheets, and team and player profiles are submitted to the organising committee by tomorrow for screening.
Teams that do not comply will not be allowed to take the field and their matches will be forfeited and points awarded to the opposing sides.
The committee will be clamping down player eligibility, hence the screening process.
Bukoya warned that ineligible players would be expelled from the tournament and the team fined K500. Failure to pay the fine will result in the team being expelled from the tournament.
He also warned supporters and teams to respect the referees.
Bukoya also encouraged referees to be fair and transparent in their decisions.
“EPC will be monitoring referees who aren’t fair and these referees will be banned from the tournament,” he said in a statement.
Clubs are encouraged to contact the committee if they require assistance.
Bukoya can be contacted on 73501942 or via email ([email protected]).