Governor for Madang province Ramsey Pariwa, has publicly declared this week, that the sporting pride of Madang namely the Madang Football Club will be back on the field in 2026 to proudly fly the flag of the province in the sport of soccer.

“As the patron of Madang FC, I declare that I am prepared to put money and get funding in place to have Madang FC return to the National Soccer League next year.”

He said that he would task the Madang Provincial Events Committee to sit down with the Madang Provincial Sports Coordinator plus the Madang Soccer Association to design a plan to move forward to have Madang FC take part in the National Soccer League next year.

Governor Pariwa gave his major sports undertaking during the presentation of trophies and cash prizes to the winning teams who participated in the Madang Urban LLG leg of the Governor's Cup tournament.

The tournament saw both men and women participate in soccer and volleyball games in a week-long competition with the grand final held on Tuesday the 4th of November 2025.

During the occasion, he announced that Madang will also field a rugby league team and stated that he is totally against the name Madang Kandes which is not an indigenous Madang identity tag.

He said Madang has other suitable names to associate to that has cultural significance.

Meantime, the main aim of the Governor’s Cup tournament is to unite all sports men and women to participate and at the same time avoid law and order problems in the community.

He believes one of the reasons lawlessness in the country is rising is because the government is not creating the opportunity for the talented or gifted sport men and women in the community to keep them occupied.

He said that there are some gifted men and women in the community who when not having anything better to keep them occupied resort to illegal activities thus creating problem in the community.

“The Governor’s Cup is an opportunity created by the Madang Provincial Government for sport men and women particularly youths to play together and unite for the common good.”

“I encourage those players who have taken the field in the Governor’s Cup should be happy that they have a chance to represent the province under the wings of Madang FC.”

He further thanked everyone including games technical officials, teams’ players and club managers for hosting a successful one-week tournament.

On the other hand, he particularly mentioned and commended Madang Urban Local Level Government (LLG) Coordinator, Belshman Tupa, for taking on the initiative to organize the event with the assistance of James Manup and Provincial Sports Coordinator, Panchito Amepou.

He has also given an undertaking to improve the sporting facilities in Madang so the people can go and enjoy the games.

“My job now is to look around for funds to assist improve the facilities at Laiwaden oval and other sporting venues in town.”

Meanwhile, he also acknowledged the SME mothers who have utilized the Governor’s Cup tournament to go sell their food and drinks to sustain living expenses.