Competition looking at nationwide participation

Sports

THE National Soccer League (NSL) is looking to have about 26 teams competing in the coming season which starts on Jan 19 across the four regions of the country, says Papua New Guinea Football Association senior vice-president John Wesley Gonjuan, pictured.
Gonjuan said the Southern and Northern (Mamose) conferences would have seven teams each.
The Highlands and New Guinea Islands conferences will have six teams each.
“The four conferences will play in their respective regions,” Gonjuan said.
“The two winners from those conferences will progress through to the second phase of the competition.
“In the second phase, the two winners from each conference will play home and away games.
“We have decided that the winners of the Northern conference will play the winners of the Highlands conference.
“The winners of the New Guinea Islands will play the winners of the Southern conference.
“After that, four teams will fall and four will proceed.
“We will then put them into a pool to play each other.
“This is how we will identify the winners of the competition.
“The winners and the runners-up will represent the country at the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Champions League.
“It won’t be like last year where every team played the league system. This year, we have changed the regulation and it will be the winners and the runners-up represent ing the country.”
Gonjuan said that the affiliation fees for the teams was K50,000, which is dropped from K75,000 from last year, and registration was K50 per player.
“A team will pay K5000 when they submit their expression on interest by Dec 14, and the balance of K45 000 can be settled later in the season,” Gonjuan said.