Labasa player Sitiveni Rakai tries to defend the ball against Ba player Samuela Nabenia at Subrail Park March 3, 2018. Photo: WATI TALEBULA
Again the Vodafone Premier League is on a four-week break. How can this be? This stop-start affair has taken away the glamour, excitement and the intense competitiveness of what is known to be the country’s biggest football competition.
This explains the low turnout of fans to watch the supposedly weekly league matches. Gone are the days where we have full stands. Today we’re lucky to have 200 people watching a game!
For this year alone the league has taken two breaks. Seriously, this competition is now becoming a joke.
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After the first round, the Fiji Football Association put a halt to the competition stating that it coincided with the opening of the transfer window. This shows the lack of planning by those administering the competition at Fiji FA.
This whole episode would have been avoided if the administrators had planned it well. The stoppage affected the momentum of the competition especially after it got off to a grand start.
It was all back to square one and just when things started to get rolling this has to happen again.
This time, the excuse is that the Vodafone Fijian football team are in camp for the upcoming Philippines tour and the districts will be without their top players.
What has become of all those development programmes carried out at district level? With the unavailability of top players this is an opportunity for district officials to expose their upcoming players.
Why is it hard to do that? Does this show that district officials are there for their own pride? Get a win at whatever cost without giving any two hoots about the future of football in the country.
From what has transpired, we wonder whether these districts had been running their weekly club competition. If they have been doing that then they should have no problem in getting players to step-in for those who are called for national duties.
Also, it raises the question of whether Fiji FA has been monitoring all these activities at district level or are simply leaving it to the officials to run it the way they want.
It’s time for the Fiji FA Board to do some serious thinking on how to add credibility to the Vodafone Premier League.
The competition where our football legends once shed blood, sweat and tears to make it not only one of our biggest local football competitions, but for the whole Pacific region as well.
LEONE CABENATABUA
Feedback: leonec@fijisun.com.fj
