LOC ramp up operations

The Local Organising Committee is working around the clock as the date for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup nears.

4pm yesterday was exactly 50 days to go before the first match between Sweden and Korea DPR kicks-off at the Sir John Guise Stadium.

LOC Chief Executive Officer Seamus Marten said a lot has been happening behind the scenes since the 100 Days countdown early last month.

The LOC hosted the team workshop that saw a delegation from the FIFA headquarters in Zurich attend a weeklong meeting with team delegates and stakeholders providing an avenue for teams to see first-hand preparations on the ground. The winner’s trophy was also unveiled by the Sports Minister Justin Tkatchenko during the team workshop.

National carrier Air Niugini was announced as the first local company to come on board as a National Supporter of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2016, with others close to confirming their commitment next week.

Marten said this is very unique for PNG because it is the first time that a PNG company has its brand sitting alongside the bigger brands of football supporters for a FIFA tournament.

Awareness of the tournament is also being carried out with the tournament mascot Susa making appearances at the recent Independence celebrations held at the Paga Ringroad. Susa will be making a number of visits to schools and the community in the lead up to the tournament.

The ticketing team has commenced the sale of corporate box packages this week and this has generated lot of interest from the business community in the various available packages.

Marten said currently the LOC Accreditation consultant Shane Goldfinch is in the country to assist LOC’s accreditation team meet all FIFA’s accreditation requirements and standards before accreditation goes live online at 4pm today.

“The online accreditation or registration is for workforce that have an operational role to play during the tournament. Those eligible to apply for the online accreditation are our partner agencies, venue owners, service providers and the general workforce,” he said.

Marten said the four venue general managers that were recently appointed will also be traveling to Jordan early next month to attend the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup to get a feel of what the tournament will be like when they return to run the tournament in November at their match venues.

Besides planning of the tournament, infrastructure development in the Bava Park and PNG Football stadium has picked up and is on target. The stands and seats have already been put in while the two storey building to house the team’s changes rooms and VIP rooms is going up.

With 50 Days to go, all functional areas of the LOC have continued to ensure that their operational areas are ready before kick off on November 13.

The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Papua New Guinea 2016 will be held from November 13 to December 3.