NSL urged to adjust format

By HENRY MORABANG
REIGNING Telikom National Soccer League premiers Hekari United FC have called on the NSL board to allow a seven-team competition this year.
This follows the registration of an extra team in the revised six-team competition format.
Gigira Laitepo Morobe United FC and new franchise NC Civic Works Oro FC both paid their registration fees last Wednesday to bring the number of teams in the semi-professional competition to seven – one more than the required number.
NSL business development manager Chris Brown said last week that all seven teams would be considered as provisional teams until the NSL board decided on the matter.
However, Hekari United franchise owner John Kapi Natto told The National at the weekend that the NSL board should not have to face a dilemma but amend the format to cater for the seven teams that were registered.
The former NSL chairman said if the registration payments have been confirmed for all seven teams then they should be allowed to participate.
“The onus is now on the new NSL board to determine the fate of the semi-professional competition and where it is heading,” he said.
Kapi Natto said both Morobe United and Oro FC were creditable franchises which were supported by political and business leaders.
Oro FC was supported by Northern Governor Gary Juffa and should be given the opportunity to participate while Morobe United had become a household name in the NSL competition and must be included, he said.
Kapi Natto added that the NSL was a national sporting body and should not allow regionalism to permeate the competition structure.