Stay away from Ipatas Cup, capital city refs told

 THE Port Moresby Rugby Football League will not officiate during the Coca-Cola Ipatas Cup Southern leg.

League president Tony Kuni said cup chairman Timothy Lepa had never honoured his commitments to pay referees in previous competitions.

Kuni said the referees were not insured by the competition and it was too risky as the games were played without proper security at any public oval in Port Moresby.

“This is a very big issue that Lepa should address and not overlook as without referees there are no games,” Kuni said.

“They should be treated honestly by the organisers in Port Moresby or elsewhere in Papua New Guinea.

In a briefing at Murray Barracks after the Southern Regional Nines tournament Kuni warned the referees not to officiate in the Ipatas Cup as their lives could be in danger and they would not be compensated by that competition’s board.

He said no referees must use the league uniforms to officiate at such games because they were not assigned by the city referees association.

“If you want to ref these games, PMRFLRA will not be responsible for any injuries sustained,” Kuni said.

He said no referee should use the PMRFLRA name as they were taking their own risks to officiate at the event.

Kuni advised the referees to be very cautious before officiating in other off season games or tournament as security was not provided and there had been crowd violence in previous years.

He said the referees were victims in such tournaments and offseason competitions, which should be better policed.

“I want you refs to take time off and come back in February so we can start planning for the 2015 season on a new chapter. “