5 NSL players suspended

By PATRICIA KEAMO
FIVE players from Gulf Komara have been suspended for two National Soccer League matches by the PNG Football Association competition standing committee for not following club transfer procedures, an official says.
Competition manager Ahmjad Tekwie told The National that the players – Rupa Emil, Laventine Monuo, Pascal Kundi, Nigel Tundu and Willie Numu will miss rounds four and five fixtures as penalty for not following the competition transfer process.
They will return in round six after serving their two-match ban.
The players initially registered with Genesis in the Southern conference competition but returned to Komara in round two when the club registered in place of Star Mountain who withdrew from the competition.
“The players didn’t get formal (written) clearance from Komara to join Genesis and when Komara was included in the competition, they returned to the team,” said Tekwie.
“Without following the competition guideline on player transfer, they were fielded by Komara in round two and three.
“They were not supposed to take the field until the transfer details were complete.”
Article 12 of the competition regulation, point six states that no player is allowed to move outside of the transfer window period until the midseason transfer opens.
Point nine of Article 12 states that no player shall be permitted to play any match with his or her new club until all required transfer formalities have been met.
“Because the players failed to notify Genesis of their move and follow the transfer process, it wasn’t fair for us to suspend the team,” Tekwie said.
“Instead we penalised the players with a two match ban which was imposed last weekend and this weekend.
“Genesis also had their first point (from the forfeit) disqualified because they fielded players that were not registered or formally released to them.”
Tekwie said the players should have remained with Genesis until the transfer window opened after round five and move back to Komara through the normal player transfer process.
Meanwhile, Komara’s coach David Aua expressed his disappointment on the player’s suspension saying they were his starting players.
“If they (PNGFA) wanted to penalise the players or the team for the move, why couldn’t they suspend them when we entered the competition (in round two),” Aua told The National.
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