Former Prime Minister and Ialibu Pangia MP Peter O’Neill has expressed his disappointment in the current James Marape led government saying it has undone years of hard work by his government, and also those before him. O’Neill said economically, the country is in a mess with debt at over K51 billion and no plan to increase income except to tax the people. “Socially, crime and violence in our capital and the regions is out of control. The law is routinely abused and manipulated for political gain,” Mr O’Neill said. “Corruption, nepotism, and greed is worse not better and our economic, health and social unrest has made us a laughingstock in the region.” He said Marape has consistently shown a lack of moral courage, decisiveness and leadership. However he further said with the New Year now, people must look forward to make critical decisions in light of the approaching 2022 National General Elections for a brighter future. “But 2021 will go down not as a year of moving forward but of rapidly going backwards.”

New Year celebrations in the National Capital District recorded nil deaths relating to alcohol consumption or violence apart from a suicide incident and attempted carjacking at Gerehu. Metropolitan Superintendent Gideon Ikumu told PNG Hausbung incidents of drunks causing disturbances and commotions in respective suburbs throughout the city were reported but police responses were swift and prevented further violence. He commended the city residents as well as his police officers for ensuring that this happened unlike in past instances. “All this ensued despite the fact that there was no alcohol ban this festive season,” Mr Ikumu said. “We want the community to celebrate the New Year with us, but within the confines of the law that covers all of us, and that is not to infringe on the rights of others.” “Drunks that were taken by police last night and early hours of the morning were released again at first light after they sobered up.” “My message to both my officers and the public is to build that public-private partnership and that has been delivered during the festive operation and I’m grateful for that.” He further called on the general public in the city to co-operate with police going forward into this New Year.

Thousands of people received a surprise gift on Christmas Day this year when European bank Santander accidentally deposited £130 million ($176 million) across 75,000 transactions. The mistake happened when payments from 2,000 business accounts in the U.K. were processed twice, meaning some employees saw their wages double, while suppliers also got more than they were expecting. The bank said the duplicate payments were caused by a “scheduling issue” that has now been rectified. It is now trying to recuperate the mistaken payments, many of which have gone into bank accounts operated by rival banks. “We’re sorry that due to a technical issue, some payments from our corporate clients were incorrectly duplicated on the recipients’ accounts,” a Santander spokesperson told CNBC. “None of our clients were at any point left out of pocket as a result and we will be working hard with many banks across the UK to recover the duplicated transactions over the coming days.” Reports suggest the incident may have dampened the spirits of some payroll staff on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. “It ruined my holiday period because I thought I’d paid out hundreds of thousands in error — I thought I had done something wrong,” one payroll manager reportedly told the BBC. “I thought it was just me and that I was going to get in trouble at work.” The payroll manager added that Santander hasn’t shared how businesses should explain the second payment to staff or provided any information about how it should be repaid, according to the report. Santander said the process for recovering the funds is an industry process known as the “bank error recovery process.” It added that it has started to work with other banks in accordance with the process and that these banks will look to recover the accidental payments from their customer’s accounts. It said it also has the ability to recover the funds directly from people’s accounts. SOURCE: CNBC NEWS

It was quite a challenge for young all-rounder, Boio, when it came to balancing school and training but he managed the two seemingly with ease. The teen, who has just completed grade 11 at the Port Moresby Grammar School said that was one part of training that was hard for him. ‘It was difficult balancing school and cricket. But I just go to school and after school I join the boys in training.’ ‘Usually the U19 team would train for at least six months, but for us it’s shorter than that.’ As with other countries participating in the ICC U19 Men’s World Cup, the global pandemic has caused the unfortunate short and unconventional time frame for the U19 team to train. However, they have taken on the challenge with guts and grit. ‘We will try our best to represent the country and I look forward to having that challenge with the other U19 teams,’ Boio says adding that he especially looks forward to playing against Pakistan. ‘I love the game itself, enjoying it with my teammates,’ the young cricketer says. ‘I like Vani Vagi Morea; I just love his batting and his games.’ And if it’s not cricket he’s playing or his teammates that he’s with, it’s his family. He absolutely loves going for family picnics. The 18-year-old from Pari, Central Province has been playing since he was ten. And it’s apparent his family were a big part of this. After joining the Pari Cricket Club Boio was soon identified as a young talent in the cricket program, now ready for his World Cup debut. ‘I didn’t think I would make the PIH Under 19 Cricket PNG team but…I’m very proud,’ he smiles. ‘I just want to say thank to the selectors of the PNG U19 team and the Cricket PNG board.’

PNG's most wanted criminal Tommy Baker has been shot dead around 10pm last night in Alotau, Milne Bay Province. Milne Bay Provincial Police Commander Superintendent Peter Barkie confirmed this with PNG Hausbung this morning. He said Baker’s body is now at Alotau General Hospital and that further information on the operation will be released by Police Commissioner David Manning today. The manhunt for Baker and his gang members began in May after the attack on a police barracks in Alotau late in April among other strings of criminal activities. Since 2013 when he was on the run, Baker was arrested twice but escaped until his recent shooting.

My Dear People of Papua New Guinea, I bring to you warm greetings for a happy, prosperous, and a very hope-filled New Year, 2022. Whilst walking with optimism into 2022, I want to thank our God who looked after us in 2021 right through the burden of COVID-19 and economic hardship. God’s watch over the past, gives us confidence, that the future will be good and bright for us. In this New Year’s message, I would like to take the opportunity to remind us all of the significance of this year, and the  responsibility each of us has in contributing to its success, as well as, the success of things that will follow in its stead. The year 2022 is a very important year. It is this year that Papua New Guinea will return to the polls to elect its 11th Parliament. Only some weeks ago, your Government passed the 2022 National Budget at K22 billion, making this budget the biggest in the 46-year history of our country. Never before had our country reached the K20 billion mark until now. It is not just our budget numbers and allocations that matter, but the policies behind it. This is to allow for a greater impact for our country in not just 2022, but more importantly, a positive sustainable future, especially in our efforts to unlock rural Papua New Guinea and return our economy to being debt free by year 2034. Over the three years since coming into Office, your Government has successfully and steadily reduced our fiscal deficits from -8.6 percent in 2020 to a -5.9 percent projected for this year 2022. This sets our feet onto an optimistic economic path where, at this rate of progress, we can easily see budget surpluses on the horizon, even as early as 2027, and a zero sovereign debt by 2033, and with our investments into Sovereign Wealth Fund, we can be a lender to our neighbours by 2040. To start this journey, the 2022 National Budget also captures the areas where, previously, various other governments have not given enough attention. Health, holistic Education , Agriculture, the growth of small and medium businesses to create a bigger economy-supporting Middle Class for PNG, downstream processing of our natural resources, and infrastructure development to connect rural PNG. Let me touch briefly on each of this for more context. For Education, we are picking up on all school fees from elementary right up to high school, colleges and universities by allocating over K800 million. All who have left schools have options of continual lower education on Flexible Open Distance Education and also a link to SME /TVET education. We want no child to be left behind and to become a positive contributor to our country’s economy. In Health, your Government has allocated K2.8 billion in the Budget to rehabilitate the decaying health system that has resulted from years of neglect by governments since Independence. Beginning this year, your Marape-led Government is building 22 world class hospitals in each of our provinces, including the Special Autonomous Region of Bougainville, altogether totalling K470 million. Another K60 million is going toward the construction of the heart and cancer facilities at PNG’s leading referral hospital, the Port Moresby General Hospital. I do not want to see Papua New Guineans going to seek health services overseas, and I have directed that in our country, health service access must be within one hour reach by foot, by boat, by car or by a plane. In Agriculture, K200 million is allocated to this sector to be within the reach of 80 percent of our rural-based population. The Government initiatives of Price Support Programme and Agriculture Intervention are continuing, besides the direct support we are giving to the various cash crops areas. In MSMEs, your Government is spending another K200 million to grow medium and small enterprises. This follows through from the success of 2021 where over 300 small and medium businesses have started out of low-cost business borrowings Papua New Guineans have made. This is from the K100 million the Government had installed at BSP to implement our policy on growing MSMEs. In downstream processing – an area long talked about but hardly ventured upon, our Government begins with a K100 million allocation for the development of Pacific Marine Industries Zone (PMIZ) in Madang and Manus. It is well overdue that PNG starts processing the fish caught in its waters onshore so we keep all the benefits in the value chain, such as jobs and other spin offs. The PMIZ begin this year. Further more, our focus on downstream processing will be for all sectors in mining, petroleum, forestry and agriculture too, so we can add value to our resources and create more ripple economic gains, including employment and Kina entrapment in our domestic economy. With such focus, in Agriculture - for instance - we would like to put a ban on imports of foods like rice and beef, and those we can grow and process locally. This journey has already started when we took Office and will be entrenched in 2022, and going into the future. In continuing our efforts to build our economy bigger and our country better to make PNG the ‘richest black Christian nation’ as I envisaged, or ‘happy wealthy and wise’ as Somare’s Vision 2050 puts it, our signature Connect PNG programme puts in place, the country’s enabling infrastructure – roads, airports, wharves, jetties, airstrips, bridges, electricity, and telecommunications. For instance, in two years between 2019 and 2020, we are building 323 roads covering over 1,900 kilometres into mostly rural Papua New Guinea. We have secured funding programmes for all our ports and jetties; our power line programmes; we continuing the CADIP programmes for airports and airstrips that the Somare Government secured in 2009, so all our airport and airstrip connectivity is reached. All these will continue over the decade to achieve a 100 percent connectivity by the Year 2040. As for our resources within the extractive industries sector, Porgera Gold Mine is set to fire in April 2022 with a far superior terms in our favour. In terms of PNG content in extractive resource projects, Porgera sets the pace for every negotiation that follow – P’nyang, Wafi-Golpu, Papua LNG, and any others that will come in the future. It is time to Take Back what is rightfully ours – a larger share in the benefits in our own natural resources God has blessed us with, but of course, with respect to our laws that allow our investors to make a return on their investments in our country. Why am I mentioning Budget 2022 all over again? Because together with the National General Elections, this makes 2022 an absolutely critical year. It is the year that will determine the leadership that will, not only carry the Budget to the end of 2022 and put in place the subsequent one, but more importantly, carry the country into its Golden Jubilee anniversary in 2025 when we turn 50. The fiscal path the Marape Government has carved out is still a sensitive one, to be treated with care and respect, if we are to make more progress than we have so far made. The economic hole that PNG has been plunged into over the last decade is so deep, any government taking the reins beginning this year must be just as smart or smarter to be able to rescue the country and bring its feet into true prosperity. Vision 2050 also summons us to act prudently to reach the goal where as a country, we are all "healthy, happy and prosperous by 2050". That is why I appeal to you all, our voting population, to bear this in mind as you prepare yourselves for the National General Elections. Remember the responsibility you carry as the true holder of democratic power. You hold one of the greatest powers given to man; the power to elect into government a man or a woman to represent you. Because of this, the responsibility that you bear is just as great. “With great power comes great responsibility,” it has been said. You must, therefore, exercise this responsibility with the utmost care and caution. I appeal to you, my People, to elect your leaders this year, 2022 based on merit, and merit alone. Make your assessments based on leadership qualities, standing in community, credentials, and strength of character of the candidate of your choice. My People, we must rise above all the pettiness and self-centredness and greed that has for so long chained us to stagnation and repression. I appeal to you all: no more voting on tribal lines, or because of money, or material things.This must stop.Enough. The power you hold in your hand, the power to elect someone else in your place in a democratic government, is worth so much more. It is a power that makes governments, moves economies, mobilises countries. If only you realise how much you can move Papua New Guinea forward and make it a prosperous powerful country, as powerful as the United States of America, you will put to better use your power when voting. As the Head of Government, I am totally committed to funding the National General Elections. We are committing K600 million to host the elections, to make it safe and  fair so everyone of voting age can have a say and exercise their powers of voting. Our Budget for this year is set, and I am very pleased with the Team headed by Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey, for putting together a very respectable budget amidst the challenges of COVID-19. I am very mindful of the trajectory our country is on, especially with relation to key national milestones such as our 50th anniversary, which play essential roles in measuring our progress. In no more than four years, PNG will celebrate its Golden Jubilee. It is, therefore, crucial that we elect capable leaders – women and men who would put their country ahead of self, like the team who stood with me at Loloata when lust for power and money played out in 2020. Leaders to be elected must not only be educated and aware of 21st Century expectations, but must be grounded in Christian and Melanesian characters of selflessness, love, caring and sharing. They must have exercised integrity and wisdom in their lives to be able to serve our country. Strong men and  women who can deliver to our people "health, wealth and prosperity " as espoused by Vision 2050. 2022 is the beginning of a new chapter in a lot of ways. This year, we stand on the cusp of history with new generation of leaders coming through. We will have leaders, many of whom would have been born after 1975, the year our country gained nationhood. And we have lost many of our founding leaders last year, 2021 - Great Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, Sir Mekere Morauta, Sir Silas Atopare, Sir Paulias Matane, to name a few. These are leaders with impeccable qualities who brought our country to this point, and they are passing on the baton of leadership. The onus is upon us now to take Papua New Guinea further, and far. Let us make 2022 count during the National General Elections to bring in the next generation of leadership strong enough to move our country forward beyond 50 years of our nationhood. I appeal to our people to vote with power and purpose. Use your voting power wisely and do not sell your birthright for a plate of food. Your country needs you to be wise in 2022. As I close, I make a final call to all our people including politicians and residents, to respect each other and each other's rights; to be law-abiding as we live through 2022. Let us commit to respect the child and wife in your house, the women and children in your community and work place, the elderly, and those living with disabilities amongst us. Be kind and warm to our foreign residents and visitors in our country. By doing these, you will have truly contributed to taking back PNG from the wrong road and putting our country onto the right road to economic independence where we do not leave anyone behind. I want to conclude by thanking all hands who helped our country in 2021. Our people and the praying Christian churches for living through with understanding of the hard times we lived in 2021, our business and civil community, foreign investors, bi-lateral and multilateral partners, the Judiciary, the Parliament, President Ishmael Toroama and our people in Bougainville, and our faithful public servants right across the country. It was a privilege serving you all in 2021, and I look forward to your support and to work with you all again in 2022. In conclusion, I thank our God once again for the blessings and protection in 2021, and I wish you all a Happy New Year as we look forward to our God’s continuing care in 2022 and beyond. May God bless you all.  

Police Commissioner David Manning has issued orders for the arrest of all persons involved in a recent torture and murder of five women accused of sorcery in the Pawa Yamo village of Kagua district in the Southern Highlands province. “Everyone will be identified and arrested. Even if it means we have to arrest every member of a clan or tribe we will do so. This madness has got to stop. We are in the 21st century and such barbaric actions must be quickly stopped with the full force of the law,” Police Commissioner Manning said. He added that there are no innocent bystanders. Everyone who was at the scene and did nothing to stop the tortures are just as guilty as the ones who tortured the women. Mr Manning described the perpetrators as uncivilized and void of any human decency. He described them as evil persons without any sense of logical human thinking. “The country cannot progress without letting go of these horrific “traditional beliefs”. They serve no good to our girls, women, and the vulnerable within our communities. Such acts actually set our country back decades,” Mr Manning said. He said for Papua New Guinea to move on as a people and nation, such evil practices must be done away with. He said there are positive cultural beliefs and practices that creates identity, and a sense of pride and strengthens us as a country of many tribes. He said our laws guide us as to certain aspects of our cultural heritage and beliefs that are acceptable and consistent with our rights and freedoms under our Constitution. “And then there is our belief in sorcery that has taken on an ugly and evil nature in some parts of the country. The belief allows men or justifies them to carry out cruel acts of violence against other people, especially those that cannot defend themselves. “What happened in Kagua is simply and totally unacceptable. These are vile, inhumane, and simply evil acts that must be stopped. “Unfortunately, these actions are based on beliefs that only a few cultures still hold strong. Many cultures across the nation have moved on or evolved into advanced cultures compared to a couple of generations ago and we continue to see these cultures and values promoted to enhance our lives as human beings,” Mr Manning said. The video of the torture of the women which has gone viral shows the women tied to poles and burnt with hot metal. The torture and murder were reported to have happened some three weeks ago. Mr Manning said police have responded to the Kagua incident and he is waiting for a report from Deputy Commissioner Operations Mr Anton Billie. The recent incident has prompted Mr Manning to repeat his calls for a national holistic approach to sorcery related violence. “I will call for a national forum in the new year for all stakeholders including relevant and responsible government departments, agencies as well as churches, NGOs and interest groups. We need to come together to put in place systems, mechanisms and processes to deal with sorcery and sorcery related violence,” Mr Manning said. He said many Papua New Guineans believe in sorcery and the level of their reaction or response vary from province to province so everyone needs to come together now to end sorcery related violence. “I would very much be interested to progress any discussions with both Magisterial and Judicial systems to establish a separate court to deal with sorcery/traditional belief-based violence. There is the law and there is justice, and this must be correctly applied to these sorcery related cases,” Mr Manning said.

The Independent Commission on Young Lives says some children who go into care are "more likely to experience instability through multiple placement moves and changes in social worker", while in some cases they are moved into "completely unsuitable" accommodation. The social care system in England is not fit for purpose and "may as well be handing over children directly to ruthless gangs and criminals", according to a leading children’s rights campaigner. Anne Longfield, a former children's commissioner for England, says some teenagers taken into care to safeguard them from county lines and criminal exploitation are being put at risk of more serious harm. She said: "A children's social care system that is supposed to protect vulnerable teenagers is frequently putting them in even greater danger. "Often, we may as well be handing over children directly to ruthless gangs and criminals. It is unfit for purpose." Ms Longfield founded and chairs the independent Commission on Young Lives, which has been funded by a charity to produce a series of reports on children's care in England. The commission's first report, Out of Harm's Way, says the care system in place to support vulnerable teenagers is "infuriatingly inadequate" and has been designed with younger children in mind. It says some children who go into care are "more likely to experience instability through multiple placement moves and changes in social worker", while in some cases they are moved into "completely unsuitable" accommodation. Citing official figures that show 80,850 children were in care in England in March 2021, it found many teenagers in crisis are being moved away from their local area and support networks, sometimes to areas with high levels of crime. It also found that the number of 16-year-olds entering care almost quadrupled over the past decade, with 16 and 17-year-olds now making up 23% of those in care. Rachel Musekiwa, a 21-year-old university undergraduate who spent a decade of her childhood in care in Oldham, told Sky News she knows foster children who got involved in drugs and crime. "At 16 and 17 you're still finding yourself, you're still very young, you still don't know how to navigate the world," she said. "I almost found myself joining them because it was like 'If all the other foster children are doing this, let's just be the stereotype'. "A lot of young people fall into that trap just because it's a stereotype and there's not that support." The report makes a series of recommendations, calling on the government to set up a Vulnerable Teenagers At Risk ministerial task force, and says the Department for Education should establish a Teenager in Care package of support including the financing of new local community children's homes. A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We recognise many vulnerable young people face new and growing risks, which is why we are providing targeted support through our specialist alternative provision and SAFE taskforces, backed by £45 million, to keep these young people engaged in their education and to prevent them becoming involved in criminal activity. "While the independent review of children's social care continues, we are urgently reforming the system to address growing pressures. "This includes by introducing national standards and new oversight from Ofsted for supported accommodation, and maintaining and increasing the number of places in these homes backed by £259 million."

Conservationist Bindi Irwin, who is daughter of the late Steve Irwin 'The Crocodile Hunter', wants to make sure her daughter understands life and death from a young age because that was a "gift" her parents gave to her. "Growing up and being 23, I can look back with gratitude that my parents did that for me; it really was a gift that they gave me," she said. Growing up at Australia Zoo "was an absolutely wonderful experience" for Irwin, but it meant she was confronted by death well before the tragic passing of her father. The first such experience she can remember was when a "little koala named Wilson" arrived after his mother was hit by a car, and Irwin worked with vets at the zoo's wildlife hospital to care for him. "I can remember very vividly my mum sat me down to talk to me and say, 'Unfortunately, Wilson didn't make it, but he will always be with you; you have to cherish the good times that you had with him'," Irwin said. "That really shaped me for my life moving forward." Irwin said her mother Terri was "so amazing with explaining everything" that the moment has stayed with her and helps shape the way she deals with death. She was just two years old when her grandmother passed away. It's an event that affected Irwin, even if she doesn't remember it. "It really sticks with you, even if you don't remember it; it is a part of you and it's a part of the fabric of your upbringing," Irwin said. Sources of grief Irwin opened up about her experiences on the podcast What About Death, hosted by Tsultrim, a Brisbane-based Buddhist nun in the Tibetan tradition. Irwin spoke of how the environmental impact of humans has also brought her "tremendous grief". "We can no longer live in a world where we just continue to live our lives with no appreciation or respect for our other wildlife and wild places that we share our Earth with," she said. She said she wants her daughter Grace - and any future children and grandchildren - to live in a world with "clean air and fresh drinking water, and an abundance of wildlife". "I worry about the future, but I do find hope in the fact that there are some extraordinary people doing wonderful things working tirelessly to protect our planet," Irwin said. Outpouring of love and support Irwin's father, "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, died aged 44 in 2006 after his chest was pierced by a stingray's barb when his children Bindi and Bob were eight and two years old respectively. "For us, losing Dad was probably the hardest thing we've ever gone through, and our grief walks beside us every day," Irwin said. "When Dad passed away, we were overwhelmed by the amount of love and support that we received. "We had no idea how many lives Dad touched through his conservation work; I know for a fact that Dad had no idea. "And it wasn't until he passed away that we were hit with this wave - this tsunami of love and kindness and people sharing their own stories and telling us about how that affected their lives." During that time, the family felt comforted in the knowledge the environmentalist and TV icon had touched so many lives. "That's why when he died, I said to Mum, 'I really want to thank everybody and I want to stand up and say something'," Irwin said. "It felt really important to me and to our family that we were going to stand up and make sure that everything he lived and died for continued on into the future. "I think that was our coping method." Irwin thinks her dad knew he didn't have a "long time on this Earth". "As humans, we all say ... 'live each day as if it's your last' and Dad actually did," she said. "After any wonderful experience that he had, he would always say, 'Well, I feel complete, I can die now'." Turning Point After her father died, amid the "terrifying" media frenzy and the shock, disbelief and grief, Irwin said she vividly remembers the moment she resolved to move forward. "I remember thinking, this emotion is going to shape me; this is going to be a real turning point on how I continue on with the rest of my life and I want to be strong for my family," she said. "One day - I wrote it in my journal, actually - I was like, 'this is it; I am choosing not to wallow in sadness anymore'. "I am choosing to find the strength that Dad had and continue on." Celebrating loved ones "Where there is great loss, you still have to find joy, that's what they would want for you as well," she said. "Dad wouldn't want me to be sad every single day; he would want me to find joy in life and he would want me to find happiness in every day and that's what I've chosen to do." "I choose to believe that Dad is with me every day and I find great comfort in that." SOURCE: ABC NEWS

The young cricketer has been playing since he was ten years old in the local BSP School Kriket Program. Now at 17 he is excited to be part of the PIH Under 19 Cricket PNG team. Recently completing grade 8 at Pari Primary School, Patrick was fortunate enough to balance both school and training. ‘I’d come and train on weekends but now I’ve finished my exams, so I train full time.’ And now with his full focus on the ICC U19 Men’s World Cup he is anxiously hopeful. ‘I want to perform well in the World Cup and hopefully we will win some games,’ he says. Since joining the U19 train-on squad, the enthusiastic all-rounder says he has learnt and gained new skills, implying he has made big improvements and he has gotten better at his games. ‘I improved how to bat and bowl, and how to catch the ball. It’s very good, very interesting too.’ Outside of cricket and off the field, he is a typical teenager who enjoys anything fun – either playing or doodling on paper. ‘I like to play volleyball and other fun games. And I like to draw too,’ Patrick says with a sudden beam on his face. One of his favourite home-cooked foods are bananas. He smiles saying that’s one of the things he’ll most definitely miss eating when away in the West Indies for his world cup tour. The BSP School Kriket Program had given Patrick something to enjoy and keep busy a few years back, and to be able to make it as a young cricketer in the World Cup is a great blessing. ‘I want to say thank you to everyone at Cricket PNG and also a big thank you to my people of Pari village for the encouragement and support.’

Lae Rugby League (LRL) Judiciary announced its decision to ban two clubs for 3 years as a result of the spectator and player violence that occurred during the December 11 grand final match                                                                      . The Judiciary imposed a 3 year suspension on the Tent City Rangers RL Club for the actions of its supporters in bringing LRL and the game into disrepute, in breach of the PNGRFL Code of Conduct. It found the Rangers’ supporters instigated the violence during the game by throwing dangerous objects onto the field of play. 14B Pirates RL Club is also suspended for 3 years for breaching the PNGRFL Code of Conduct for players and spectators. The Judiciary determined that a number of Pirates players retaliated with violence and ran out of the field of play to engage in a fight with the Rangers spectators. 14B Pirates supporters also retaliated by invading the field of play and fighting. The Judiciary has also imposed penalties on identified players and team managers for breach of the Code of Conduct and Misconduct Handbook. It has banned nine 14B Pirates players and the Team Manager for 1 year for their retaliation. Rangers Team Manager has been banned for five matches and the Club fined K500 for not complying with LRL instructions. LRL President Adrian Chow said, “The Clubs were handed the Judiciary’s decisions. Due to the holiday season, they have been given 14 days to appeal to PNGRFL." "I commend Acting Judiciary Chairman Steve Malum and his panel for their consideration of the video footage and reports which ensure those responsible are held accountable for their actions. I hope the bans on the Clu§s,and players send a strong message that there is zero tolerance to violence in rugby league. Spectators and players must exercise restraint so that on field incidents remain on field and are dealt with by match officials. It is unfortunate that innocent supporters and players will be affected by the club bans but this is necessary to change the mindset of the minority that do not wish to act with respect and sportsmanship.”

PNG Football Association President John Kapi Natto has warmly welcomed new men’s soccer Head Coach Marcos Gusmao who arrived in the country on Tuesday. “On behalf of PNG Football Association Executive Committee Members, the PNGFA Management, MA Presidents and all the supporters of our football here in PNG, I would like to take this time before our Christmas period to warmly welcome our football instructor and head coach of the PNG men’s national squad, Marcus Gusmao all the way from Sao Paulo, Brazil, South America to our shores,” Mr Kapi Natto said. Gusmao slipped into the country quietly to take up his new position as the new head coach. Gusmao’s major task is to prepare the soccer national team for the FIFA 2022 World Cup Qualifier in Qatar. Apart from coaching and managing the national men’s soccer team, Marcos will also be tasked to assist PNGFA Technical division in formulating at Technical Development plan and will assist with implementation phase of the plan. The Brazillian is no stranger to PNG when he came here in 2004 to prepare the men’s national team for the 2008 South Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa and that time. “I was then appointed as the Team Manager as we prepared the National Team but unfortunately PNG men’s national team could not travel because it was ruled out by the PNGOC Justification committee for some reasons.” He said Gusmao prepared the team for almost six months leaving with his assistant coaches of Bob Morris and Pius Letenge in the same residence as all Brazillians find it a normal thing to their culture. Gusmao is renowned for his hardness and no nonsense in coaching & preparing the national team under the captaincy of former PNG great Richard Daniel and other great players. “I trust that Marcus will do his best with his assistant Bob Morris who is no stranger to Marcus as his former assistant and now to join him again is a great treat”. Kapi Natto strongly urged the members of the men national soccer team to pay close attention to him as he brings his wealth of coaching techniques and skills to team.