QUARTER final matches for the 2017 Malaita Cup has been suspended due to some technical issues have raised yesterday.

According to the president of Malaita Football Association (MFA) Eddie Omokirio the quarter final matches have been suspended due complaints raised by some teams about the eligibility of players in some participating teams.

The issue has become a big issue for the local organising disciplinary committee to find solutions to address.

Mr Omokirio said, according to the regulations of the tournament, any registered players under the Honiara football association (HFA) soccer league and TSL are not allowed to take part in the Malaita Cup tournament.

This was done to improve the standard of football in the rural areas rather than depending on players that have already been exposed to the national soccer leagues in Honiara.

“We called an urgent technical meeting yesterday with team officials and we found out that some players playing in this competition are registered under HFA league teams,” Omokirio said.

“Some players have been reported to the local organising committee yesterday from their respective clubs and the committee have already take note of those players.

A total of nine teams were affected and it will affect some of the match results that already been done Omokirio adds.

“We hope the issue will be solved quickly so that the competition can continue on, because it is now already in the knockout stages,” he said

Another technical meeting was also held late yesterday evening to re-schedule the quarter final fixtures and the semi-final fixtures.

According to the President the quarters and semi-finals will be played today at Gwaunaruú and Aligegeo sports ground.

The third and fourth play offs and, the grand final match will take place this Saturday.

The winners of the today’s quarter final matches will also play their semi-final matches today.