7th PNG GAMES IN LIMBO - Games Deferred to September 2017

The 7th PNG Games has been postponed for the second time with only a month to go before the game kicks off in the West New Britain capital, Kimbe in March.

Team Morobe, the defending champions of the PNG Games is one of several provincial teams that expressed disappointment when hearing of the news. Team Morobe was heading into it's final stages of high performance training and preparations to travel to Kimbe. It's uniforms and merchandises arrived from Philippines this week and were soon to be distributed when the news was received.

It is understood that funding constraints may be a factor affecting the organisation of the PNG Games in Kimbe. Sports Minister Justin Tkatchenko who authorized the deferral of the games from November 2016 to March 2017 recently came out in the media saying that preparations was 90% completed.

While millions have been pumped into the preparation for the FIFA U20 Womens World Cup in Port Moresby lats year, the PNG Games (where talents are identified) was overlooked and the concentration immediately switched over to the APEC meeting in 2018.

The success of the 2015 Pacific Games is a direct result of the PNG Games in recent years and it should be run to maintain consistency in our athletes' preparations.

Sports Minister Justin Tkatchenko denied the deferral of the games, but says the PNG games is set to start in March.

Lae City and Morobe province played host to the 6th PNG Games and it was a success with all preparations completed within the time frame.

An official media statement is yet to be released with details of why the games is being deferred but it is understood funding delays for preparations on ground must have been .

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