League ructions

By SAMUEL RAITANO
A MOTION to stop Saturday’s annual general meeting (AGM) of the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League Board is expected to be heard today at the Waigani National Court.
The motion was filed on Monday by PNGRFL interim committee member Gary Juffa, PNGRFL Inc general manager Joe Tokam, PNGRFL representative for New Guinea Islands Boskey Horta and Wabag RFL president Joseph Kilipala, who purports to represent in the case nineteen leagues from the Highlands region.
They want the court to remove interim chairman John Numapo and interim member coordinating fundraising Ivan Ravu before the AGM begins.
This was on allegations that Numapo was running the affairs of PNGRFL unilaterally, and that he had failed to facilitate interim committee meetings involving all interim committee members.
They also claim that activities, decisions, media statements and the setting of the date for the AGM had been done without proper endorsement by an interim committee meeting.
They want the court to declare them null and void.
They also want the criterion set by Numapo and Ravu for the affiliation and admission of rugby leagues to PNGRFL, affiliation fees for 2011 season and nomination for various positions within the PNGRFL declared as null and void.
They also want Juffa declared by the court as interim chairman and have him chair the AGM they propose to hold on Dec 12.
Numapo’s lawyer Samson Tolo from Jerewai Lawyers declined to comment on the matter yesterday, saying it was pending in court.
Tolo however indicated that his client was obliged to comply with a court order of April 8 to have an AGM by Nov 30, and as such it was bound to happen before or on that date.
It is understood that the AGM will address PNGRFL issues and the appointment of permanent board members.