By JOEL K ANDREW
SPORTS Minister Hon. Don Polye says Papua New Guinea can be more a soccer country.
He said this yesterday while announcing the PNG Kapuls male team to participate in the upcoming Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Prime Minister’s cup challenge.
The PNG Kapuls will be participating in the MSG soccer tournament as defending premiers after winning the trophy last year, 2022 in Vanuatu.
The MSG Cup will be staged in New Caledonia from October 8th to 15th as the Kapuls team make their final preparations to leave for the tournament.
Minister Polye congratulated the boys for making the final squad and gave few remarks about the relevance of PNG’s participation in soccer and the development of this sporting code in the country.
“Undeniably, soccer is a universal sport and I urge us all to embrace the significance of this sport throughout the country,” he said.
Polye said that Papua New Guinea can be more a soccer country as the country drives forward development agendas in sports.
“The benefits of the sport itself will be a milestone for our talents, as its physical requirements are well met by our young guns in the country, who need more exposure, mentoring, development pathways and support with good governance in the sport.
“We recently hosted FIFA president Giani Infantino in PNG earlier.
“FIFA has more nations in the world affiliated to the sport and so it is a global movement.”
As part of this sport’s development in the country, Minister Polye said that facilities like National Sports Institute (NSI) in Goroka was given to FIFA to nurture and cultivate young talents in all regions of Papua New Guinea.
He said the department of Sports will now work in collaboration with PNG FIFA through PNG Football association (PNGFA) in elevating this game to prominent stage of development.
Meanwhile, Minister Polye urged PNGFA president John Kapi Natto, and PNG Sports Foundation CEO Alberth Veratau to provide good governance, accountability, transparency and effective leadership in coordination, if we want this game to excel to a different level in our country.
