Soccer at a crossroads, tough decisions to be made

SOCCER in Papua New Guinea is at a crossroads.
The sport is being pulled in two different directions.
Players, clubs amd associations will soon be forced to make some hard decisions about which side they take.
The impending formation of a rival motherbody to the Papua New Guinea Football Association will see a split in allegiances among the associations nation wide.
The National Soccer League, will also have to compete with another premier league.
All these changes have come about after the conduct of the PNGFA Congress last December.
Having two separate governing bodies is far from ideal.
It will cause more harm than good in the long run.
Hekari United boss John Kapi Natto said he felt compelled to act out of concern for grassroots soccer and the little man.
David Chung, he claims has treated these members of the soccer fraternity with contempt.
For him they are a means to an end – to stay in power at all costs.
At the end of the day, it is not about who is in power or who has the backing of the world body FIFA.
The battle for the hearts and minds of the soccer faithful will be won on these shores, out on the village football fields, with the junior competitions, with the associations that desparately need help and “sampla luksave”.
Who has done more? Who has used their own means to push the soccer gospel forward to the people that matter?
In any system of government, a head that does not have the support of all its members is essentially fronting an organisation with no soul and substance. Democracy does not exist here.
That situation can only last for so long.
The people will rise. All it takes is one association, one club, one man, to stand up and say “no” and fight the good fight.