Sports News in Brief
Perfect condition
GOVIND Park, the main venue for the Inter District Championship is in perfect condition confirmed the official in-charge of the ground. Paresh Kishore said some work had to be done to the ground to get it ready and the work was hampered by bad weather recently. "We had some problems due to flooding and we had to do some extra work but we did get the ground ready and both the Ba Football Academy and Govind Park are in perfect conditions," Kishore said. "And there will be no problems with rain because we had the drainage system repaired and cleaned and it works fine now," he said. The IDC will start today and will end on Sunday.
Sivoki in doubt
NAVUA's best defender Kolinio Sivoki is in doubt for the opening Inter District Championship clash against defending champions Labasa today. The 17-year-old sustained an injury to his foot and officials are saying he may be out for two games but are praying for speedy recovery. Team director Parvin Chand said Sivoki was hobbling on Monday. Chand said his loss was a big blow to the side who was already lacking quality players. Navua meets Labasa at 3.30pm today. The other teams in their pool are Lautoka, Tavua and Nadroga.
Referee shortage
CAPABLE referees are available locally to replace experienced officials for the Inter District Championship. Referee's director Paresh Kishore said some referees were out of the country and some would leave the country during the tournament. "Ravinesh Kumar will not be available while Andrew Achari will be available from Sunday," Kishore said. Kishore himself will be leaving midway in the tournament to officiate in the game between New Zealand and Tahiti in Christchurch, New Zealand. "Rakesh Verman and I will be leaving on Saturday. He is going to New Caledonia while I will be going to New Zealand. But we have capable referees available locally to fill in if any referee is not available," he said. Kishore said the younger referees would be given more game time for them to gain experience.