Mobiha: Focus on junior football

 FORMER PNG Football Association administrator Noel Mobiha has called on current executives to invest more in  youth development instead of concentrating on the management level.

The former secretary general Mobiha, while lauding the PNGFA administration, said he  believed that more should be done for youth football to make it  more competitive with other Island countries and New Zealand.

Mobiha made these comments after returning from Auckland, New Zealand, where he watched his son, Rodney, who was part of the team, go down to hosts 3-0 denying them the final spot for U17 Oceania World Cup qualifier last week.

Mobiha was part of the former administration under Madiu Andrew which focused on youth programmes. 

The success story of that administration was the Ludwig Peka-coached PNG U17s which lost to Australia in the Oceania semi-finals in Australia. 

He said current administration could do more if they concentrated on developing junior programmes and the technical expertise especially coaching if PNG wanted to beat the regions number one team, New Zealand.

“Junior football in  PNGneeds more exposure, and it must be mandatory that they attend all OFC events to stay competitive with other countries as they are the future of PNG football,” Mobiha said.