Published in the The Fiji Times on Monday, July 25, 1994.
The 16th Burns Philp Homecentre Battle of the Giants tournament final will be replayed on Saturday after Rewa and defending champions Ba fought to a scoreless draw at Prince Charles Park.
About 8000 soccer fans, who witnessed the seesawing final, returned home with mixed feelings after Fiji Football Association announced the final would be decided sometime this week.
The dreaded penalty shootout, held to decide the winner when the finalists were held to a draw at the end of extra-time, was done away with under new FIFA rules which Fiji FA adopted for the tournament.
While some fans said it was fair to decide the winner in a re-play rather than in an unpredictable penalty shootout, others claimed it was unfair on fans who had to pay to watch another final.
Fiji FA president Samshud Dean Sahu Khan said the venue of the re-play would not necessarily be a neutral ground, but a venue where Fiji FA would rake in enough gate-takings to cover the shortfall during the four-day tourney in Nadi.
Rewa, which last played in a BOG final in 1985, is bidding to have it staged at Ratu Cakobau Park.
Ba Football Association president Vinod Patel was also willing to host Rewa if given the go-ahead by Fiji FA.
Good goalkeeping by former Ba goalkeeper Isikeli Seva in goal for Rewa and Ba’s Iosefo Vosaboto saw the match go into extra-time.
It was the same for Ba strikers Taito Bula and Manoa Masi is the second spell when the defending champions staged a resurgence.
