Chow appeals to cup organisers to increase crowd quota

By PARKER TAMBUA
LAE Tigers owner Ian Chow has appealed to Digicel Cup organisers to increase the crowd capacity to 50 per cent instead of 30 per cent, as outlined in the competition’s Covid-19 protocols.
He said yesterday that rugby league followers around the country had missed the sport for a long time.
“While I appreciate the Papua New Guinea National Rugby League Competition and PNG Rugby Football League for a great effort in bringing the competition back, I still think our venues can be safe even with 50 per cent capacity,” Chow said.
“For instance, the Lae Rugby League Ground was only allowed to print 1,200 tickets for fans.
“Usually, we get more than 5,000 fans but due to Covid-19, the ticket numbers have been reduced.
“But I believe we can increase that going forward.
“The country has gone through a hard time in the past four months and the return of rugby league restores happiness and hope for our people.
“They (crowd) will be keen to attend matches and so we should at least increase attendance a bit since we are yet to record any Covid-19 deaths.
“This is just my opinion.
“But PNGNRLC has done well to arrange the telecast of Digicel Cup games through TV Wan.
“That is good for PNG rugby.”