Moresby leagues facing dual-registration issues, says official

By JACK AMI
DUAL player registration in National Capital District (NCD) rugby league competitions is an ongoing issue which needs to be addressed by local affiliates, according to an official.
In NCD, there are four Papua New Guinea Rugby Football League-affiliated competitions — Port Moresby, Moresby South, Suburban and Motu-Koita — with a number of players understood to be competing in more than one.
Port Moresby Rugby Football League (POMRFL) junior vice-chairman Manu Lofena was surprised to see a rugby league picture of a Sab City Raider (named) playing with POMRFL club Dobo Warriors.
“This is one of the examples we are talking about,” he said.
“We will advise Moresby South to check all their summaries and registrations, and confirm which players have registered in more than one league.
“Not only men are doing this, women too.
“We will not hesitate to impose penalties, including fines and player suspension, on (dual-registered) players and their clubs.”
Also strict on the issue, Moresby South Rugby League warned its clubs that it was a breach of the competition rules.
“You can’t have dual registration and play more than one league in NCD,” competition manager Albert Muri said.
“We are checking our summaries to identify unregistered players.
“We will remove and ban these players from the competition this season. We will not tolerate this in our competition.
“I’m warning all club managements to adhere to the competition rules.”