President Chung faced a lone challenge from former PNGFA Vice-President John Kapi Natto but was re-elected during the association’s Elective Congress – held at the Liamo Reef Resort in Kimbe, West New Britain – after winning 10 votes from the member affiliates to Kapi Natto’s six.
He will be joined at the helm by Linda Wonuhali who, in another historic moment, has become the country’s first ever female Senior Vice-President, while Kurt Reimann will act as Vice-President. The other newly-elected members of the PNGFA executive committee are: Simon Koima, Shem Farrock, Sigfried Beschel, Wayne Taylor, Paddy Kelly and Joe Maineke.
Chung is pleased to be able to carry on in the role and aims to continue his plans to turn football into the most popular sport in the country.
“Football in Papua New Guinea has made great strides in recent years but there is still much work to be done,” he says.
He is keen to improve results at the international level by focusing on elite development programmes, as well as strengthening the nation’s regional associations.
His re-election as PNGFA President caps a memorable period for Chung, who was elected to the position of OFC Senior Vice-President in 2007 before his rise to the OFC presidency in January 2011 at the 21st Ordinary Congress in American Samoa. In July of this year, he was named as a recipient of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his long service to business and the development of football in Papua New Guinea.
Born in Malaysia, Chung came to Papua New Guinea in the mid-1980s and quickly became a resident. Although initially involved in rugby league, he soon became a football player, coach and referee before focusing on the administration of the world game in the Highlands region.
Since his election to the PNGFA presidency in 2004, he has worked tirelessly to improve the status of football in Papua New Guinea and can be credited with implementing a variety of key initiatives, including the historic launching of the country’s first ever semi-professional league in 2006.
The National Soccer League aimed to improve the standard of football in Papua New Guinea and, in turn, produce better performances at OFC tournaments and it has done just that, as evidenced by the remarkable rise of Hekari United. The Port Moresby-based club defied all odds to become the first Pacific team from outside New Zealand or Australia to win the OFC Champions League and qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup in 2010.
Chung has also been a huge proponent of women’s football and his reign at the helm of the PNGFA has coincided with a string of emphatic results for the national women’s team, including a hat-trick of Pacific Games titles, in 2003, 2007 and 2011. The country’s U-15 girls’ side was also chosen by OFC to represent the region at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore.
Grassroots football in Papua New Guinea has likewise been boosted under Chung’s tenure with a variety of development programmes being put into practice. The OFC U-12 Festival of Football was hosted in Port Moresby in 2007 and was a memorable event, drawing 5,000 participants from five countries.
While financial support has been provided by FIFA and OFC, Chung has also been instrumental in securing significant sponsorship from local businesses to help fund the association’s activities.
Finally, he has overseen a series of infrastructure projects, including a national football academy in Lae and regional technical centre in Kimbe. Plans are in place for an additional technical centre to be completed in Port Moresby.

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