The Dynasty Restaurant was filled to capacity on Thursday night as the launch kicked off with a welcome speech from NSL Chairman John Kapi Nato, who highlighted how much football has developed over recent years. His sentiments were reiterated by Peter Loko, CEO of Telikom – the major sponsor of the league.
Also in attendance were members of the diplomatic corps, franchise owners, heads of government departments, the business community as well as past and present players.
Special guest speakers of the night were former Australia national players Frank Farina and Craig Moore who shared their experiences of football first hand.
During President Chung’s address, he stressed that football has come a long way in a short space of time. The best example of this was Hekari United becoming the first Island nation in Oceania to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2010. He said the NSL competition has gone from strength to strength and believes it will still go a long way with financial support from the tele-communications company Telikom.
Telikom CEO Peter Loko said that his organisation is delighted to be the sponsor of the semi- professional league after seeing successful results over the past few years. Loko emphasized how passionate Telekom is about soccer and that, as part of its corporate social responsibilities, the company would like to continue and move one step further in its endeavor to promote the sport within Papua New Guinea.
The evening was full of colourful entertainment including a parade of new uniforms, an auction of national team jerseys and memorabilia as well as raffle draws.
On top of this, there was a video presentation of the new football show that will be telecast by EMTV. The new magazine-style programme will showcase football activities in Papua New Guinea.
The Telikom NSL is open to all member associations affiliated to PNGFA. Out of the four regions Petro South’s Football Club will be representing the Highlands while Gogra Laitepo Central has moved from the Momase Region to represent the Papuan region. The Momase region will have Besta United FC and Bulolo FC, which is a new franchise team.

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