Namuesh overturns decision to cancel Wawens Cup

By LARRY ANDREW
WAWENS Cup founder Andrew Namuesh has overturned his decision to cancel this year’s edition of Lae’s biggest offseason football tournament due to popular demand from across Morobe and outside centres.
The tournament will run from Dec 25 to Jan 1.
Namuesh told The National that the tournament would be played at Lae Football Association Park with a K700 registration fee per team.
He warned all teams and stakeholders that the National Control Centre’s Coronavirus (Covid-19) measures would be applied throughout the tournament.
The association, through president Roy Kamen, has been supportive of the tournament for the last six years.
“The tournament is held during the festive season to get youths involved in soccer and refrain from illegal activities,” Namuesh said.
He said it was an opportunity for youths to showcase their talents.
“It is an opportunity for the youths to showcase themselves for possible recruitment by National Soccer League (NSL) franchises.”
Hosting the tournament from their own pockets, Namuesh and his family called on corporate houses to back the initiative as it had produced semi-professional players over the years.
Match commissioner Alex Toki said registration was now open with six teams already confirming their participation. Out of the six teams, four are from Lae while two — Tazig and Malai Suplavang — are from Malai Island in Tewae-Siassi.
Toki said the number of teams had been trimmed to 25 in accordance with the Covid-19 measures.
“National men’s training squad members are not allowed to compete in tournament,” he said.
“NSL players who had no part in the national team preparations are allowed to compete in the tournament.
“But the quota of NSL players per team will be discussed in a meeting by our organizing committee, as the focus of the tournament is on new talents.
“Interested teams can contact me (72674571) or treasurer Kossie Java (71557235) for more information on the tournament and registration.”