No crowds for rest of season

By ROBINSON LEKA
THE National Soccer League will hold the remainder of its season without spectators, according the Papua New Guinea Football Association competitions director Roosje Suwae.
She told The National yesterday that the decision was in response to new measures released by the National Control Centre last week to combat a recent spike in Coronavirus cases around the country.
The league will enter round 10 this weekend with the Southern and Northern Conferences expected to continue behind closed doors for the next five rounds.
“Starting this weekend, we will be back to no spectators for both conferences as per the directive from the Office of the National Pandemic Response Controller,” Suwae said. “The directive was supposed to come into effect last weekend (round nine).
“But it had reached our office late, so we went ahead with crowds for our Port Moresby and Lae venues.
“For now, the no-spectator policy will stand for the remainder of the season as we try to complete the campaign. “We saw how the pandemic had affected the women’s league earlier this year, so we want to make sure that the men’s season ends properly.”
Meanwhile, Suwae said the season may end early with the likely inclusion of mid-week matches to fast-track the campaign which was being reviewed by the association.
“We’ve submitted a request to the association’s executive committee,” she said.
“So once that is approved, we will move ahead with mid-week matches.
“We would like to see the round matches and finals for the conferences finish by the end of next month.
“But if restrictions force us, we may look to finish in November.”