Corporate support key, says NSL sponsor

By ISAAC LIRI
CORPORATE support today is important in terms of the development of any sport, an official says.
In the last two years, the Kumul Petroleum National Soccer League suffered without a major sponsor until Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL) came on board and announced last month its support of the semi-professional competition with a K3 million sponsorship over two years.
Representing the sponsor the at kick off of the New Guinea Islands (NGI) Conference was KPHL disputes and coordination senior legal counsel Geoffrey Emang, who played for the PNG Kapuls in the 1980s.
“Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited is very proud to sponsor the National Soccer League in 2019 and 2020,” Emang said.
“The company has a lot of confidence in PNG Football Association president John Kapi Natto and his vision to expand the semi-professional competition throughout the country.”
Seeing West New Britain come out in numbers to witness the first NSL NGI match being played was something Emang had expected.
“As the sponsor, we were very pleased to see the people of West New Britain come out in numbers,” he said.
“The New Guinea Islands has produced a lot of football players for the country in the past that represented the country in 987 and won gold at the South Pacific Games in New Caledonia.
“It means a lot for KPHL to expand to the New Guinea Islands because as a former representative I know that the region is a place where football had been played at the grassroots level and had grown.
“Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited is being a catalyst to help football grow and expand to all the corners of the country.”