PMSA faces venue problem

By ISAAC LIRI
A large number of teams and limited venues has been the major challenge for the Port Moresby Soccer Association, president John Wesley Gonjuan says.
The capital’s leading soccer competition experienced difficulties in accommodating a total of 113 teams in all men’s and women’s divisions this season at the Bisini soccer grounds.
“We started our season proper in April and our main challenge was the huge number of teams taking part this year,” Gonjuan said.
“With the limited number of fields, we were not able to play games on a weekly basis and that is the reason why we had to drag on the season a little longer.
“Our quest to get additional venues from outside of Bisini was very difficult because of the high cost of hiring and we couldn’t afford it outside of Bisini.”
Despite the challenges, Gonjuan said they were happy that the season was concluding.
“After we conclude the competition we will do a review and put forward a structure which we can follow next year and onwards,” he said.
“Because of large interest this year, we allowed more teams to participate and next season we will cut the number of teams participating.
“There are some teams during the season that had to pull out. Those teams will find it difficult to find a spot next year because of their inconsistency.
“According to our analysis with 113 teams and two fields at Bisini, we are expected to play 36 games in a weekend, however we have been playing 35 games in a weekend and that is why we have a lot of wash-out games.
“Now that we are coming to the end of the season, we are going to start off our finals this coming weekend and we hope to host the grand final by the end of next month.”