PNGFA bans duo

LAE Football Association president Roy Kamen and vice-president Stanley Khanna were suspended for two years by the Papua New Guinea Football Association for criticising the body’s leadership and administration.
The pair exchanged views on the open forum of social media (Facebook) last June and included disparaging comments about PNGFA president David Chung and his tenure as head of the national soccer association.
The suspension is not only a body blow for the country’s leading soccer association the LFA but dents the bid by Hekari Soccer Association president John Kapi Natto for the presidency when the PNGFA holds its congress in Kimbe on August 7.
The Oceania Football Confederation ethics committee sanctioned Kamen and Khanna after finding them guilty of breaching Articles 13 and 15 of the OFC code of ethics.
The investigation and subsequent meeting of the adjudicatory chamber of the OFC ethics committee followed a complaint filed by the PNGFA.
As a result of the committee’s findings, Kamen and Khanna are banned from taking part in any football-related activities at the national, regional and international level.
This means the LFA may not be able to vote at the PNGFA congress.
The ban was active from June 18, in accordance with Article 12(f) of the OFC disciplinary code.
Kamen and Khanna have 10-days to appeal the OFC decision.
Khanna, in an interview with this paper, said they would appeal to the OFC and PNGFA to reconsider their decision for the good of football in the country.
Both men were not LFA executives at the time of the incident.
They were elected into executive positions in October last year, four months after the exchanges.
“Our suspension is highly suspicious because we made those comments well before becoming executives of a football association,” Khanna said.
Kamen nominated Kapi Natto as a candidate for PNGFA presidency on May 30.
However, on the same day, he received an email from OFC advising him that he was referred to the ethics committee for breaching its code of ethics. Kamen said if his appeal was not fairly dealt with, he would take the matter to court.