PNGFA says club champs to be revived

Sports

By JIMMY KALEBE
The national soccer club championship will be revived next year, says Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA) acting president John Wesley Gonjuan.
He urged all member associations to prepare, as the venue and the date of the championship would be announced later in the year.
Gonjuan made the announcement at the PNGFA Academy in Lae on Sunday during the Besta FA Cup final, which saw the Morobe Football Association clinch the men’s division title.
The Port Moresby Soccer Association were crowned champions in the women’s division.
He said the move would allow players to be exposed to a higher level of football.
“We need to revive this important championship and do it annually starting next year onwards so that players can be exposed,” he said.
“The championship will not replace the National Soccer League (NSL), it will still be there as it is where we have players performing at that level.”
Gonjuan said the NSL winners would still qualify for Oceania Football Confederation Champions League.
Meanwhile, FA Cup sponsor International Food Corporation (IFC) set down K100,000 in prizes for the top four teams.
IFC national marketing manager Roslan Wahed said the company had been sponsoring the FA Cup and NSL over the last nine years.
He told The National that the company was proud to have spent about K2.1 million so far for the development of football in the country.