K9.78 million rugby league aid money held back

THE signing of the A$4 million (K9.78 million) funding today for rugby league in the country has been deferred due to the current dispute over who the legitimate head of rugby league in the country is.
The new board headed by Gary Juffa was voted in by ousted PNGRFL board member Bryan Kramer in a meeting in Lae while incumbent Albert Veratau is seeking legal interpretation on the election.
The A$4 million is for rugby league development for the next five years.
The PNGRFL board under Veratau was  finalising negotiations with  Prime Minister and the National Executive Council for counter funding of A$4 million to develop all aspects of rugby league in the country including junior and schoolboys.
Some of the achievements brought about by the Veratau-Kuman board in the past few years were:
* The revival of SP Cup in 2004 and 2005 with K400,000 annual sponsorship from SP Brewery;
* Negotiated a five-year deal with bemobile  worth K800,000 per year;
* Secured Hardware Haus Cup deal for five years worth K1.5 million; 
* Secured sponsorhip deal for PNG Kumuls until 2013;
* Secured six international games for the Residents Kumuls this year;
* Staged the inaugural Pacific Cup – wrote the NEC paper for Minister to secure GoPNG funding of K3.4 million;
* Introduced Place of Origin concept;
* Continuation of Prime Minister XIII challenge; and
* BOC U19 and Milo U16 challenge:
Veratau said the PNGRFL board invested more than K1.5 million in building a very competitive PNG team and that had shown in their performance throughout this year.