As the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak starts to die down in Oceania and around the Pacific Islands, tentative plans are afoot in Papua New Guinea to get sporting events underway once again. Although there is yet to be an announcement on when and if the National Soccer League will resume, the Morobe Football Association yesterday announced its confirmed club list for their upcoming local association season.
Nineteen teams have been confirmed for the upcoming season, with the MFA the first association to reveal any sort of plans for the summer regional season in the country. Usually, there are local leagues taking place among several associations, with the most prolific being in Port Moresby, although information from the Lae, Lahi and Madang associations is also expected over the summer months.
The clubs taking part include Bumayong FC, Sentas FC, and Poro FC, all three of which were identified as ‘top clubs’ by then-competition co-ordinator Alex Toki ahead of the 2018 season. Poro FC is the local side at which many of the now-departed Lae City FC players began their careers, while Bumayong FC and Sentas FC have performed well in recent pre-season competitions. 8 Mile FC also have history in the competition.
The remaining clubs are as follows: PS United FC, Saints FC, All Saints FC, 1.4 Mile FC, Suambu FC, Besta FC, Maltech FC, Eleven Stars FC, Gorogias FC, Naka FC, Mixed Mate FC, Rumion FC, TISC FC, Huon Morobe FC, and Mamo Labu FC.
The Morobe Football Association have indicated that there is still time for more clubs to register ahead of the new season, and that they will be running at least an A-League and a B-League.
