Two former rugby union representative footballers and current political leaders have come out to call upon the Papua New Guinea Rugby Football Union (PNGRFU) to be transparent in its operations by providing a progressive report on the performance of the current Chief Executive Officer, and where rugby is now since the election of the new board and management.
The two political leaders, the Member for Popondetta Open and Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Mr. Richard Masere and the Member for Bougainville Regional and Internal Security Minister Mr. Peter Tsiamalili Jr, have come out to make this call following recent media reports regarding the Provincial Union’s petition to the PNGRFU.
Both political leaders felt that there were lack of accountability and absence of leadership directions from PNGRFU to the provinces and this could potentially defeat any future development of rugby in Papua New Guinea.
“Since the announcement of the K10 million three- year deal between Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited and PNGRFU in March 2022, there have been very little information and no tangible progress with the development of rugby in Papua New Guinea and we are very concern. If anything, we believe rugby has regressed and this is not good news for rugby enthusiasts and supporters in Papua New Guinea,” said the MP.
The two MPs also said that the PNGRFU must provide a detailed acquittal of the K10 million through a reputable audit firm and similarly, must provide an immediate response to the 11- point petition delivered to them by the Provincial Rugby Unions.
“We make a further call to Kumul Petroleum to institute and independent audit as sign of good governance to provide accountability and transparency in the use of the K10 million.”
“For the good of rugby in Papua New Guinea, we appeal to the PNGRFU to work closely with the Provincial Rugby Unions to progress and develop rugby at schools and at the grass-root levels.”