Official decries SIFF decision
By CARLOS ARUAFU
AN official of the Temotu U16 has expressed disappointment at the cancelling of the Youth Solomon Cup tournament early this week.
Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) aborted the tournament amidst security fears after a number of teams were penalized for fielding in over-aged players.
John Aubo described the decision as premature, arguing SIFF should allow the tournament to continue since it has already reached semi-final stage.
Aubo said his team has wasted a lot of money to come all the way from Temotu and to end the tournament in such manner is simply unacceptable.
“The cancelling of the tournament is very unfair, especially for us who have come all the way from the province,” Aubo stated
“We have wasted a lot of money to bring the team over to Honiara and to end the tournament in its final stages is just a complete wastage,” he added.
“We should be compensated for our loss.”
Aubo said SIFF are aware of the issue of compensating the teams.
But he said they are yet to receive any feedbacks from SIFF on that.
Aubo stressed that SIFF needs to get back to them quickly so they can arrange for their travel back home as soon as possible since most of the Temotu players are students and they must resume their studies next week.
He also questioned why SIFF has to cancel the tournament when teams concerned were already penalized.
“Those of us in group A have no problem withfielding over age players so we should be left alone and complete the tournament.
“They should have awarded the top prize to Temotu and second to Makira because almost all of group Bs teams were the ones that were affected for fielding inover age players.
“For the case of security, we have the police and security firms that can provide security during the finals.
“The rules are there, follow them and seek assistance from the police to provide security.”
