Highlands, Northern Conferences deferred

PAPUA New Guinea Football Association has deferred the kick-off for the Highlands and Northern Conferences of the Women’s National Soccer League to April 2 as its competitions department works on the venues in Mt Hagen and Lae.
Competitions director Roosje Suwae said her staff were in Mt Hagen to inspect and redevelop the Kimininga Police Oval which would host the highlands conference, thanks to a memorandum of understanding between the association and Western Highlands police.
For the Northern Conference, she said the venues were set with teams in Lae and Madang gearing up for next Saturday’s kick-off.
“Both conferences are now deferred to April 2 which is when the New Guinea Islands Conference should also kick off its matches in Bougainville,” Suwae said.
“Staff from our association will run a workshop for the games coordinators, match commissioners, ball boys and their supervisor.”
When asked how soon the Kimininga Police Oval would be upgraded to Fifa standards, Suwae said she was not a position to respond as it was outside of her knowledge.
“But for the games to kick off next weekend, our staff members are making sure that the field is ready,” she said.
“Our alternate venue is the National Sports Institute in Goroka, but we will still stick to Kimininga Oval for the time being as it’s a central location.”
“For the Northern Conference, all is going well, the teams are ready for next weekend.
“The games will be played at the association’s education centre at 11-Mile outside Lae and the Lae Football Association Park.
“The Madang team (Tusbab Laidamon) will play all their home games at Laiwaden Oval and they’ll travel to Lae for their away games.”