Souths president Hol banned for life over assault of match official

By ROBINSON LEKA
THE Port Moresby Rugby Football League (POMRFL) yesterday handed down five-year bans on Souths and Brothers clubs after their players assaulted match officials during the A-grade preliminary finals on Saturday and Sunday.
Both clubs were slapped with a K5,000 penalty fee and would be eligible to re-join the league in 2027 with each club to pay a surety fee of K50,000 for their return
POMRFL’s judiciary, headed by PNG Rugby Football League (PNGRFL) Southern Confederation director Gwaibo Mairi, confirmed that a total of six players were involved in both incidents.
The judiciary found Brothers’ Stanley Billy and Wanpis Tuli to be in breach of PNGRFL’s code of conduct after the duo had assaulted referee Alphonse Leonard during their preliminary final against Hohola Flies.
Billy and Tuli were handed 15-year bans from the POMRFL and PNGRFL-sanctioned competitions after Saturday’s assault.
Sunday’s preliminary final between Souths and Tarangau saw another four players from Souths along with club president James Hol banned after the competition’s second assault over the weekend.
The judiciary handed 15-year bans to Souths trio Felix Kendari, Londe Yagis, and Saku Samuel while a fourth player, William Mone, was given a 10-year ban for his role in instigating the assault.
Hol assaulted one of the match officials with a chair and was handed a life ban by POMRFL.
Mairi said the majority of players from both clubs were identified with players to receive five-year bans from POMRFL and other PNGRFL-sanctioned competitions.
“This judiciary now gives the directive to ensure that the names on the team sheets from Dec 11-12 are observed and the clubs are given 24 hours to appeal (expires 4pm today) with a fee of K1,000,” he said.
“POMRFL is a high-quality competition. Every club wants to compete in it and those who are part of it should count themselves lucky.”