by President of the Papua New Guinea Karate-do Federation (PNGKF), Sensei Carl Mari, has refuted claims by Sempai Bernard Soari regarding the national team selection for the XV Pacific Games in July, according to Post Courier (June 11, 2015).
Sensei Mari, in a statement yesterday, said the allegations were unfounded and that Soari was part of the coaching team and selection panel, and knew of the selection criteria.
He added that Soari was part of the selection panel that did the final screening at Gateway Hotel earlier in the year before the list was submitted to the PNG Olympic Justification Committee.
He also added that Soari was kept in the loop in the discussion between the Justification Committee and the federation, and was part of the delegation that presented the list to the committee. Mari said:
He also knew about the discussion between the Justification Committee and PNGKF, and in particular the feedback from the Justification Committee to PNGKF at that meeting.
Sensei Mari said since that first meeting, a lot of things have happened in relations to screening and training of the athletes.
He said that with regard to the selection, the Karate Selection Committee made a decision, and irrespective of whether one was present and deliberated, they must go by the spirit of the panel’s decision.
Mari also said there were reasons why the selection panel went one way and urged Sempai Bernard and others who feel aggrieved by the decision to use the appeal process as stipulated in the Karate Selection Policy.
Meanwhile, Sempai Soari has denied any part in selecting the final team on his Facebook page. He said that while he was there, he did not partake in any deliberation. He posted:
I would like to also deny my participation in the final team selected. I admitted that I was only present at Gateway Hotel to listen to the mentor coach read out the first karate list of which upset a lot of other coaches and disputed.
I DENY BEING PART OF THE DECISION; I DISPUTED IT AS IT SEEM TO BE FORCED DOWN MY THROAT.
He also said his decision to pull out of the team was not personal but to safeguard the integrity of Kyokushin Karate.
