By Jeremy Mogi – EM TV Sport, Port Moresby
Port Moresby will once again be the centre of attraction in the Pacific, with the recent announcement by the Oceania Football Confederation, that the city will host the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.
These remarks were made by PNG Football Association, Operations Manager Edris Kumbruwah, during the final of the BESTA FA Cup in Lae.
Participating countries in the OFC Nations cup will include New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Fiji, four-time champions New Zealand and hosts Papua New Guinea.
While for the women’s U20 World cup, Asian heavy weights Japan, have already secured a spot in the event.On top of that, the PNG senior women’s team will also be qualifying for the Rio Olympics taking on New Zealand for that single available spot.
That announcement comes as an added bonus, especially after the men’s teams bronze medal after 28 years, and the woman’s senior team garnering a fourth consecutive gold medal.
Both results in the pacific games.
Kumbruwah, has been brought on as operations manager, overseeing the enormous task of organising a high level competition.
The OFC announcement is unique in the fact that Papua New will now not only host a regional qualifying tournament for countries within the Pacific Region, but also stake claim to being one of the first Pacific nations outside of New Zealand to host the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup.
France, Sweden and Japan have been some of the big countries to already qualify for the U20 world cup, and Papua New Guinea is still in the process of finalising a squad for the tournament.
In any case, 2016 holds big promise for a country that has long been starved of any international sporting events for such a long time.
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