Kapuls without stars

CLAIMS by the Papua New Guinea Football Association this week that representative players from the Hekari United football club were not being allowed to train with the national squad have been denied by manager Vonnie Kapi Natto.
She said the club which was preparing its squad for the Oceania Football Confederation’s Champions League from Feb 25 to May 6 had not placed any restrictions on the nine players – David Muta, Koriak Upaiga, Tommy Semmy, Emmanuel Airem, Ismael Pole, Leslie Kalai, Daniel Joe and Kolu Kepo.
“I want to make it very clear that Hekari United in no way has stopped these players from joining the national camp,” Kapi Natto said from Honiara where she is attending a family bereavement with husband John.
“If our players are not attending the Kapuls training it is a personal decision they have made. We have invited Dimirit Mileng (PNGFA general secretary) to contact the players and get their views. They are training in Port Moresby for the Champions League and are available.”
The PNGFA statement said the senior men’s national team, the Kapuls had been training for the third stage of the 2018 World Cup Russia Qualifier from March 23 to June, with a depleted squad with the core of the team unavailable.
Mid-fielder Muta is the national captain while defender Upaiga and striker Semmy are considered two of PNG’s best in their positions.
The Kapuls headed into camp last week Wednesday and since that time Hekari’s contingent have not joined the squad which is a concern for coach Flemming Serritslev as Muta, Upaiga, Semmy, Joe, Pole and Kalai played a significant role in helping the Kapuls reach the Nations Cup final against New Zealand last June.
Kapi Natto maintained that while her management nor her husband had barred the players from joining the Kapuls training, they had done so on their own volition with one of the possible reasons being their frustration at the PNGFA. “I think these players are frustrated with the way the PNGFA has treated them and their club.
“Ever since the congress last December and its outcome, these players have been left disappointed and frustrated because their interests were not protected. They’ve represented their country with pride and have performed well but the PNGFA has never treated them well. They feel loyal to Hekari.”
Kapi Natto said the players’ decision to join the Kapuls camp was a personal choice.
The PNGFA statement called for the club to explain the player’s non-attendance and added that clubs were obliged to release their registered players to the representative teams of the country for which the player was eligible to play if they were called up by the association concerned.
The PNGFA said it had sent out release letters, followed by emails to Hekari management but they had fallen on “deaf ears”.
The mother body also claimed it had requested round table discussions with Hekari to find a solution.
The statement said Serritslev had started negotiations with a club in the German Bundesliga for Semmy to be given a trial but those plans were in jeopardy with the players’ non-attendance.