The highly anticipated Justin Tkatchenko (JT) Super 9’s will be strict on “No Violence” this year following its history of violence among teams and officials.
Tournament Director Mr. Bagelo Solien strongly stated that the Tournament committee will disqualify any team and player who behaves inappropriately or unethically towards tournament officials or rival teams.
“Teams with a history of violence against official must be careful this year, I will not allow harm to any of my officials. Teams will be disqualified if harm comes to my officials, especially referees and linesmen.”
According to Mr. Solien, 70 security marshals will be active during the games and will increase depending on the nature of the match towards the finals. This includes two police units on standby to ensure a safe environment for both players and supporters.
Furthermore, Mr. Solien stressed that the committee this year expects wants more than 32 teams to participate and will accommodate 44 teams only for the Men’s senior Division. Meanwhile the U- 20 men division will consist of 32 teams and women division with 16 teams only.
Mr. Solien also mentioned that due to students skipping school to participate in the tournament on weekdays, the tournament games will commence on the weekends only to enable students to focus on school.
All U- 20 men players must provide proper identification to identify their age, such as the National Identification (NID) and Drivers Licence to participate in the U- 20 division to ensure fairness among the young athletes.
The Justin Tkatchenko (JT) Super 9’s will kick off on February 8th and wrapping up on the 23rd in Port Moresby city.