One stadium to rule them all

WITH the Pacific Games 16 months away, Papua New Guineans will have the luxury of several stadia to view the Games from and that can only be a good thing for sports-loving citizens.
But looking at the figures mentioned for the capacity of these facilities one can tell straight away that while the quality will be there, hopefully, the number of people that can be accommodated at these venues may not do justice to the size and interest of a fervent sports public.
The Sir John Guise Stadium is projected to seat in the vicinity of 15,000, while across town in Konedobu the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium will seat 10,000.
Both these venues hosted opening ceremonies for the Pacific Games in 1991 and 1965. The last time PNG hosted the Pacific Games, the crowd that attended the opening ceremony was estimated at around 20,000.
The National Football Stadium, formerly the Lloyd Robson Oval, will have a capacity to seat 10,000.
Stadium construction in the nation’s capital is unprecedented as can be expected in preparation for the region’s biggest multi-sports event but for a country like PNG, and indeed a city the size of Port Moresby, which has a population pushing the one million mark (some estimates have the figure at 1.3 million) there needs to be a stadium that all sports fans can flock to for the truly big events.
A stadium with a 45,000 capacity like the Sydney Football Stadium is overdue.
Kalabond may have had problems pulling 8,000 Hun­ters fans on a weekly basis being based in a town of some 30,000 people but Port Moresby will have no such worries.
Why is it so important to have a big stadium?
We need a jewel in the crown of sporting infrastructure and like ANZ Stadium, Homebush, in Sydney or the Sydney Cricket Ground something iconic to define a city’s sporting landscape.
Currently with the figures bandied around none of these venues, while being up to international standard, has any real awe factor or landmark status.
For years the Lloyd Robson Oval, with its meagre seating capacity of some 8,000 was the leading stadium in the country.
The venue was barely able to host international matches but we made due.
Now there should be no excuse. We have the population and more importantly, that population has the buying power to fill a medium size stadium at the very least. Over the weekend in the National Rugby League the Melbourne Storm played the Canterbury Bulldogs at the NIB Stadium in Perth for their Round 4 clash.
Imagine if Papua New Guinea could host an NRL match one day.
It is possible and there has been interest in the past with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles sounding out the potential to play one of their home games in Port Moresby.
The plan did not get past the initial planning stage be­cause there simply was no proper infrastructure in place to host a game of such magnitude.
For a start, the capacity of the Lloyd Robson Oval was woefully inadequate for investors/organisers to get a re­turn and addled with security issues not to mention the lack of designated camera spots for televising the event.
The city now has the opportunity to get a marquee venue, with all the spending on venues and facilities surely a K500 million kina stadium investment is something to consider.
Hosting full strength New Zealand and Australian rugby league teams will be a reality as will it be in other sports such as rugby union and soccer. The benefits will not only be in sports but cultural and entertainment.
With international musical acts like popular Jamaican reggae stars having done shows in Port Moresby or scheduled to later this month the dearth of suitable venues capable of hosting fans becomes apparent.
It is sad that these acts will only perform in front of a couple of a thousand fans instead of a 20,000 Papua New Guineans who will probably never see them live again.
If the government can make revenue off the current projects when they are fully operational all the better but imagine the kind of interest and crowd numbers a big stadium can bring in. It is time PNG had its own stadium to host the big games and big events.