National Soccer League season officially launched

The Telikom National Soccer League 2015-2016 season was officially launched tonight at the Sir John Guise Outdoor Stadium in Port Moresby.

The event was witnessed by franchise clubs, sponsors, PNG Football Association, Sports Federation officials and government officials.

When launching the season, NSL chairman Isaac Lupari thanked the participating clubs, franchise owners and Telikom PNG for the support.

Lupari said it had not been an easy journey for NSL in the last 12 years.

 "We hope that one day soccer will become the national sport in PNG as it is played throughout the country by all ages and gender," said Lupari.

The launch was done with a kick off by PNG Sports Foundation CEO Peter Tsiamalili Jr, IPBC chairman Paul Nerau, Telikom CEO Michael Donelly and Lupari.

The competition will be played in a two tier format consisting of the zone conference league and the national league competition.

The 12 teams will play round robin matches for ten weeks in the Southern Conference and Northern Conference.

Teams in the Southern Conference are Hekari United FC, Rapatona FC, Erema FC, PS Huawei FC, Port FC Moresby and Welgris FC. Teams in the Northern Conference are champions Lae City Dwellers, Madang Fox FC, Goroka FC, Besta United FC, Gigira Laitepo FC and Admiralty FC.

The top two teams from each conference will qualify for the national championship to determine the winner of the season. The season games kick off this weekend.

Author: 
Quintina Naime