Football sets sight on lifting standard

THE Papua New Guinea Football Association has its sight set on lifting the standard of football to be on par with international leagues — starting with reintroduction of the conference competition.
This was the message from association president John Kapi Natto at a press conference in Port Moresby on Monday.
“Once we have our premier league, some of these clubs that are playing in the premier league may feel like entering a professional league. They can do so,” he said.
“So in Oceania in the future, there’s going to be a professional league in 2020 or 2021.
“That’s why we’re planning ahead. We want to prepare clubs for the future.”
Meanwhile, association general secretary Dimirit Mileng has stressed a need for more Fifa-accredited match officials in the country to ensure that games follow a professional standard.
Mileng said there were six qualified officials in the country who would be refereeing in the premier league this season.
“We need a certain number to work with,” he said. “The number of officials that we have in the country is not enough.
“We have not reached a level of qualified referees in the country and if we have too many clubs or teams playing, we will stretch ourselves and have some games where referees will make calls that are not helpful to the game.
“If we work with six, I hope we have enough manpower while continuing to carry out our development activities.”