Oceania football chief quits unexpectedly

WELLINGTON: Oceania Football Confederation president David Chung of Papua New Guinea announced his immediate resignation Friday for “personal reasons”.

Chung’s term still had 10 months to run and a brief statement from OFC provided no further details around the 55-year-old’s sudden departure.“Chung... took the decision after much deliberation citing personal reasons,” it said.

The Malaysian-born businessman took over as acting president in 2010 when his predecessor Reynald Temarii of Tahiti was implicated in a vote-selling scandal. He was confirmed in the position in 2011 and re-elected for another four-year term in 2015.

Chung, who also heads the PNG Football Association, was involved in a power struggle with another PNG administrator John Kapi Natto in 2016 which resulted in his rival setting up a rebel league.

The 11-nation OFC is the poorest and weakest of FIFA continental confederations, consisting mainly of small island states. Neither OFC nor FIFA were immediately available for further comment on Chung’s departure.