PNGFA Clarifies 3 Contentious Issues

The Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA) held a press conference today (2nd October) at its headquarters in Port Moresby to clarify a few issues regarding the Lae Football Association (LFA) K15,000 claim, the Lae City Dwellers FC outstanding registration fee of K40,000, and the 2024 Premier Soccer League (PSL) prize money.

In terms of the LFA’s K15,000 claim, the PNGFA General Secretary Ahmjad Tekwie set the record straight, explaining that the PNGFA President John Kapi Natto committed K20,000 to all the active Member Associations (MAs) across the country in 2023, in which the LFA was one of the recipients.

The K20,000 commitment made by President Natto to the MAs was to be paid in two installments. LFA received the first K5,000 and submitted its acquittal to get the remaining balance of K15,000. However, LFA breached one of PSL’s regulations, hence the K15,000 was held back due to non-compliance. 

“There was a commitment made by our president, Mr. Kapi Natto, in 2023 for all active MAs to be paid K20,000 in two payments. First one was a K5, 000 payment, and K15,000 would follow thereafter once the K5, 000 was submitted with all its acquittals in full,” General Secretary Mr. Tekwie emphasized.

“LFA was one of those recipients for the first K5, 0000 payment. And yes, they did submit their acquittals. While their acquittals were being assessed internally, we also put out other regulations for the PSL, and these regulations were breached by LFA, specifically the 11-11 player movement restriction. 

“We notify the MAs, the clubs, and the players concerned that once you breach these regulations, you will be subjected to fines and penalties. MAs that move players back and forth from the PSL to the MAs and vice versa, you will be fined K10,000, the players will be fined K5,000, and the clubs will also be fined K5,000.

“We put this notice and made amendments to the regulations and captured the restrictions for the players' movement. On multiple occasions, it has been reported by PNGFA staff in Lae that LFA did not adhere to these regulations and continued to allow the players from moving back and forth, and that’s why we penalized LFA for non-compliance.” 

Pertaining to the Lae City Dwellers FC K40,000 outstanding balance, Mr. Tekwie confirmed that the PNGFA, through his office, wrote to coach Peter Gunemba and extended the payment deadline to October 10th, giving ample time for the Lae-based franchise to complete its registration fee.   

“We actually reached out to Mr. Gunemba and responded to his plea through the competition department. We gave him an extension date to settle the outstanding payment, but we were surprised when the story came out. We respect the Dwellers as a long-serving team, but we have rules and regulations that every club needs to comply with,” Tekwie said.

Mr. Tekwie added that they had been communicating with coach Gunemba, but he went ahead and talked to the media, which was an internal matter. He said the actions by Gunemba were very disappointing and brought disrepute to PNGFA. 

In addition, it has been reported that the 2024 prize money was not given to the champions and the runners-up, including the third and fourth teams, respectively. Mr. Tekwie cleared the air that an amendment was made by the previous secretariat to cancel prize money for the 2024 season.

“Before the kickoff of the 2024 season, President Natto and former General Secretary Gordon Manub signed the regulation and circulated it to all 8 participating clubs. On page 38 (s7) regarding articles on awards, it stated clearly that there’s no indication of any prize money, except medals and trophies. That was the decision agreed by everyone,” he explained. 

Secretary Tekwie revealed that they would follow last year’s regulation, especially in terms of not awarding prize money to the top 4 teams, but pointed out that an amendment would be made to the provision to include prize money again in the future.  

Furthermore, the PNGFA Chief Operating Officer (COO) Stanley Khana echoed the sentiments shared by General Secretary Ahmjad Tekwie, pleading for everyone to work together to grow football in the country. He also asked Mr. Gunemba to apologize to PNGFA.

Meanwhile, besides the Lae City Dwellers FC, the Blues Kumuls FC also have an outstanding payment to make. Both clubs will complete their respective registration fees by October 10th. Failure to comply with the PNGFA regulation will see the Dwellers and Blue Kumuls get suspended and penalized.