Raymond Gunemba responds to allegations of Lae City’s boss Ian Chow

One of the most intriguing cases currently in Oceanian football has a new chapter: the former Lae City captain and Papua New Guinea football star Raymond Gunemba spoke to Oceania Football Center regarding the allegations of his former side team’ boss Ian Chow.

Gunemba, who recently left Lae City alongside some of his teammates, was not happy with the treatment his father and coach Peter Gunemba had from Chow: “We were not happy because Peter was the person that brought the team from nothing to champions. It is him who built me and some of the players who have now become well-known nationwide in the sport“, stated Raymond.

“All the allegations he made about us are all false“, mentioned the Papua New Guinean star player. Gunemba and some important ex-Lae City players were accused by Ian Chow of misbehaving during trainings and team commitments. According to the chairman, Gunemba, and other penalized players from Lae, engaged in drinking and the smoking of cigarettes and marijuana as recently as their trip to Vanuatu for the OFC Champions League.

Chow also stated Raymond, Ronald Warisan and Nigel Dabinyaba were suspended from the PNG Kapuls – it is known that in last Pacific Games held in Samoa in 2019 various players were disciplined by PNGFA due to misdemeanours, but the governing body has declined to issue a list of players that were penalized by the entity. “These are all lies. We were a disciplined team; because of our discipline and belief in God we have been successful thus far. We only drink after the season“, stated Raymond Gunemba.

“When we heard that the coach had been sacked, all the players from our local team Poro stood first for the movement; then came the original Lae City Dwellers players. For the rest of the players, it was up to them if they want to leave or not. I did not force any players to move: somewhere it was mentioned that I had forced Emmanuel Simon to move out – that’s a complete lie. Some of the players cleared their stories with the sponsor before the exodus, so when we moved out they went back and joined the team“, stated the forward, who scored six times for Lae City in the first round of PNG National Soccer League.

Gunemba adds he tried to contact Mr. Chow to clear the situation and explain his movement, but he was denied a chance to have a meeting with the chairman: “We emailed Mr. Chow and asked him if we could meet with him and explain our movement, but he said that we have left already, so we are free to join other teams“, explains Gunemba; “That is the thing that confused me. Why did he want to suspend us? What did we do?” added the player.

“All the things that happened were because of jealousy; our names have been spoiled in the media, but all the claims that were made are not true. We pray that God will prevail and show everyone that we are innocent.”

Gunemba also talked about his future in the sport and his plans for the next months and PNG National Soccer League. Oceania Football Center will soon reveal these further statements from the star player. Stay tuned!