Having football facilities is one thing but ensuring that they are well kept and maintained for competitions is as important.
OFC and PNG Football Association President David Chung highlighted this aspect of facility management during the opening of a three-day FIFA Maintenance Seminar which is being hosted in Port Moresby.
The seminar is being conducted by Daniel Krebs, FIFA Football Facilities and Income Generation Programme manager, Mark Jennings-Temple, FIFA Football Turf and Natural Grass Consultant and Steven Guley, FIFA Facilities Consultant.
The Maintenance Seminar is being attended by facilities and turf managers from across the Oceania Region with representatives coming from American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu and host country Papua New Guinea.
Chung said the seminar will certainly enhance the participants' skills in maintaining the pitch quality in order to have football fields which players can enjoy using.
"I am sure that all of you will benefit from sharing ideas and also from learning from the FIFA experts who are here to ensure you learn as much from them and bring back your knowledge to implement in your respective countries," Chung said.
He said FIFA's Forward Football Development Programme has committed USD25 million so far in the Oceania Region since 2008 in building football facilities and such workshops are beneficial to ensure the investment is maintained.
Jennings-Temple, in welcoming the participants, said the objective of the seminar is to get attendees to learn about how to maintain their pitches and facilities.
"Turf and Facility maintenance is integral, therefore knowing how to maintain those two things will enable you to be strategic in your budgeting.
"I hope that at the end of the seminar you will be able to go back to your countries and share the knowledge that you have received here with your people and create a legacy," Jennings-Temple said.
The first two days of the seminar will focus on turf maintenance training while the final day will shift focus to facility maintenance.