OFC News

Over 70,000 football fans attended the four opening games of much anticpated A-League in Australia over the weekend.

Check out the new home of the A-League at www.a-league.com.au

Or, to view the match reports follow the links below...

Perth Glory vs. Central Coast Mariners

Newcastle Jets vs. Adelaide United

Queensland Roar vs. NZ Knights

Sydney FC vs. Melbourne Victory

Oceania Football Confederation President Mr. Reynald Temarii continued his series of trips around the region focusing on learning and understanding how different national associations within the Confederation operate.

Mr. Temarii was in Vanuatu last week to attend the FIFA Com-Unity Course and FIFA Goal Project inauguration.

At the conclusion of the FIFA Com-Unity Course in Port Vila Mr. Temarii outlined the Confedration's plan for the next 12 years, and fielded questions from the football family in an open forum session.

Again, outlining the planned OFC "Festival of Football" as one of the key tasks in the implementation of youth development programmes and tournaments for Oceania's next generation of players.

Other key tasks outlined by Mr. Temarii included the proposed cooperation agreements between OFC national associations, and programmes around Futsal and women's development as well as the development of coaches and referees.

Mr. Temarii also requested that the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, the Honorable Ham Lini, look at synchronizing the school calendar. Such a move will avoid OFC, and other sports, scheduling tournaments that clash with important school exams.

New Caledonia is the next stop on Mr. Temarii's list, before the OFC Executive meet prior to the FIFA Congress in Marrakech, Morocco in September.

The unmistakable sound of the conch signals it is time to begin the proceedings.

The official party - headed by Vanuatu Prime Minister the Honorable Ham Lini, Oceania Football Confederation President Mr. Reynald Temarii, and Vanuatu Football Federation President Mr. Johnny Tinsley Lulu - begin the celebrations for the inauguration of the FIFA Goal Project in Port Vila.

The Ni-Vanuatu warriors welcome officials into the 23-acre grounds of the new VFF National Football Academy and Headquarters, hundreds of Vanuatu's football family enter too, all eager to inspect the facility and join in the festivities.

The guests settle in for the various official speeches and formalities, before Mr. Temarii cuts the ribbon and hands the keys to the new facility to the Honorable Ham Lini to open the doors to the new academy.

As the door creaks open, hundreds of children flood out with huge smiles and footballs in hand, symbolizing the future of the game in Vanuatu who will benefit from this complex.

Open for inspection was the administration block, the new headquarters for VFF, featuring offices for VFF technical director, Futsal director, Women's football director and referee director along with the general administration.

The conference room complete with projectors, screens and direct input computer access for direct on screen power point presentations, DVD, VCD and Video display inputs plus white-board and adjacent toilets and showers.

Outside, the area for the international pitch is marked out, along with dormitory accommodation for up to 30 players. When complete the administration complex will allow for an internal area for recreation including a swimming pool.

With a pitch already complete and ready for use, the children spilled out onto the field while the official ceremony continued.

as outlined above accommodation facilities are incomplete but Mr. Lulu takes an opportunity to make a special announcement, the President of OFC Mr. Temarii has pledged his Executive Allowance to fund the completion of the dormitory, and construction will begin in early 2006.

Already planned for the future are two futsal courts and a beach football court as Vanuatu prepare to spearhead the Oceania assault on world football.

And VFF are focused on holistic develop as plans are in place to include a primary and secondary school and training grounds for other sports in the future.

In the meantime, the cream of Vanuatu's male and female talent takes the field to display their already well-documented talents as a new generation of stars begin to reap the benefits of a fantastic facility.

The Power of Football

The footage was so moving that for a while no one spoke. The participants of the FIFA Com-Unity Course in Vanuatu just witnessed a short film depicting Brazil's visit to Haiti in 2004.

Some wiped away tears, while others remained silent, moved by what they had just seen.

The "Power of Football" as a unifying force and as a medium for the overall development of a country was a key theme throughout the three-day workshop, and left many knowing that change was both inevitable and possible.

The message from the opening address of Jimmy Nipo - the CEO of the Vanuatu Football Federation (VFF) - was simple and to the point, "the future is bright, but also very frightening".

With the ever-improving performances of the island teams in Oceania competition and the imminent departure of Australia to the Asian Football Confederation, nations such as Vanuatu will soon contest places in FIFA world finals.

After the FIFA Com-Unity Course, the future should be less daunting.

With presentations around relationship management, media and communication, and marketing, participants were left with a better understanding about the business of football and how it can be applied to not only benefit the VFF, but also the nation as a whole.

Solomon Islands futsal is taking a giant leap with two youth players awarded scholarships to study and play in Australia.

SIFF Media Officer Francis Pituvaka has the full story here, Two futsal players awarded Aussie scholarship

Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink has named a full-strength squad for Australia's matches against the Solomon Islands early next month.

Full story here, Hiddink names squad for World Cup Qualifier

Referee's come together to discuss their future

Developing world-class match officials in the Pacific region was the driving factor for Oceania Football Confederation Referee Instructor's Ken Wallace (New Zealand) and Massimo Raveino (Tahiti) as they coordinated a Referee Development Officer Seminar at the OFC headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.

Referee Development Officer's (RDO's) from the OFC member associations of Cook Islands (Teariki Goodwin), Fiji (Segran Chandra), New Caledonia (Chanel Palaou), New Zealand (Ken Wallace), Papua New Guinea (Gidas Bayung), Tahiti (Massimo Raveino), Tonga (Tevita Vea), Samoa (Ben Lemana), and Solomon Islands (Neil Poloso) attended the four-day seminar which ran from 19 - 22 August.

Each RDO delivered a presentation with a view to defining what resources and prospective budget each national association needed to further develop their country's referees in the future.

At the request of the OFC President Mr. Reynald Temarii, Wallace and Raveino are preparing a Referee Development Plan inline with the 12-year plan for the Confederation.

OFC Referee Fitness Instructor Alejo Perez Leguizamon - who was used by FIFA at the recent World Youth Championships in the Netherlands - also took the RDO's through the new FIFA Referee's Fitness Test.

At the conclusion of the seminar the Referee's Committee outlined three key objectives for the plan; the recruitment of more referees; improved knowledge and skills of Referee Development Officers in national associations; and an increase in OFC referee's at FIFA competitions.

The last objective is an area which Mr. Temarii is keen to see come to fruition with a view towards a strong OFC representation at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

"Referee development is one of the key areas of importance for our Confederation, we want as many of our top officials consistently appearing on the world stage, I am very confident we will be able to find the necessary funding to implement this plan," said Temarii.

Wallace and Raveino will continue to work on the Referee Development Plan and will present to all 11 member associations at the OFC Congress and Workshop in Tahiti in November this year.

WEEK OF FOOTBALL EXCITEMENT IN SAMOA

The Samoa Football (Soccer) Association (SFSF) recently enjoyed a week of football celebrations and activities as their 40th Anniversary culminated in the inauguration of their new academy facility, phase 2 of their FIFA Goal Project.

A House of Football boasting an education centre, living quarters and the administration headquarters for the Samoa Football (Soccer) Federation (SFSF), now joins the manicured pitches at the Tuanaimato JS Soccer Complex.

FIFA President Mr. Joseph S. Blatter, was unable to attend the celebrations in person but extended his congratulations to the SFSF.

"On behalf of the worldwide football community, it is a pleasure for me to send my warmest congratulations and tidings of good will to the SFSF on the occasion of the inauguration of its second FIFA Goal project, the National Football Academy and Headquarters.

"The SFSF National Football Academy and Headquarters will no doubt be a benefit to the whole country and contribute enormously for the future of football, particularly for all the nation's young people - boys and girls who will enjoy the football and educational opportunities that the facilities will offer today and long in the future"

Prior to the inauguration celebrations Oceania Football Confederation President Mr. Reynald Temarii - on his third trip to Samoa this year - opened the FIFA Com-Unity Course, a three-day workshop designed to improve awareness of the value football can have in a country.

"These types of courses are important for our national associations as they help improve the abilities and skills of our people," said Mr. Temarii, who also commended the hard work of the hundreds of volunteers in Samoa and thousands throughout the Oceania region.

While in Apia Mr. Temarii further outlined the Confederation's plans for the next 12 years including the key task of developing and implementing youth programmes and tournaments to develop OFC's next generation of players.

The cornerstone project of this task is the "OFC Youth Festival of Football" which will begin in mid-2006. The OFC Executive Committee will finalize the concept at the FIFA congress in Marakesh, Morocco in September this year.

Mr. Temarii also met with the Honorable Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, where he voiced a request that all Pacific Islands synchronize their school calendars. The Samoan Prime Minister gave his word that he would bring this issue up at the next Pacific Island Forum.

Such a move will assist planning for OFC's international tournaments in the future to avoid clashes with important school exams.

Vanuatu will celebrate the opening of their FIFA Goal Project facility in Port Vila on Saturday 27 August, with a FIFA Com-Unity Course running from 24 - 26 August.

Check out the story from the Samoa Observer here,Here's to the future

India ends tour winless

The Indian national team ended their tour of Fiji winless after Fiji defeated the tourists 2-1 in Suva today.

Fiji won the series 2-0 with India suffering two consecutive defeats to the national squad and an earlier loss to local district champions Ba in their tour opener.

A much improved Indian outfit dominated the play today and took the early lead 15 minutes into the match with a 35metre free kick through the boots of Sukwindar Singh.

But the celebration was short lived with Luke Vidovi collecting a loose pass to fire in the equalizer in the 30th minute.

The teams went into the break 1-all but 10 minutes after the break Fiji captain Esala Masi hammered home a powerful tie breaker to seal Fiji's win.

Match Summary

Fiji 2-1 India

Goals: 0-1 Irungbam Surkumar Singh (10'), 1-1 Luke Vidovi (25'), 2-1 Esala Masi (61')

Kick-off time: 16.00 local time (09.30 IST / 06.00 CET)

Venue: Post Fiji Stadium, Suva

Attendance: 11,000+

Fiji Simione Tamanisau; Lorima Dau, Alvin Avinesh, Luke Vidovi, Apisalome Turuva, Petero Daunisaka; Esala Masi (Taniela Waqa), Pita Baletoga (Josaia Bukalidi), Salesh Kumar (Stephen Morrell); Kiniviliame Naika (Avinesh Swamy), Osea Vakatalesau (Thomas Vulivuli)

India VP Satish Kumar; Irungbam Surkumar Singh, Selwyn Fernandes, Naduparambil Pappachan Pradeep, Habibur Rehman Mondal; Shylo Malswam Tulunga (Subhas Chakraborty), Shanmugam Venkatesh, Debabrata Roy; Vimal Pariyar (Sukhwinder Singh), Sunil Chetri, Manjit Singh (Surajit Bose)

Referee Peter O'Leary (New Zealand)

Cautions Lorima Dau (Fiji)

Expulsions None

HERBERT RETURNS WITH TOP QUALIFICATION

All Whites Head Coach and New Zealand Soccer High Performance Manager Ricki Herbert returned home from England this week having successfully achieved Europe's highest qualification, the UEFA A Coaching Licence.

Herbert was one of 40 candidates seeking an A Licence. 40 candidates from all around the world that fork out thousands of dollars each year (some are forced to repeat the course) to attain the ultimate in football coaching qualifications. South Africa, Canada, America, Iraq, Greece, Spain, England and Bulgaria were all represented on the course held at Lilleshall Sports Centre over the past 2 weeks.

Herbert was one of only 7 candidates that came away having passed the course, putting into perspective the All Whites Head Coach's achievement.

Herbert was under no illusions as to how tough the course would be, given he started some months ago with part one, also in England and has continued on back in NZ with course work and practical studies that have all contributed to his pass mark.

"This was an incredibly intense and difficult course, culminating in the two weeks at Lilleshall in the Midlands, said Herbert.

"Our time was taken up with practical sessions, theory lectures and study towards our individual presentations. There wasn't a spare minute in the day and not a moment when you weren't under pressure to deliver under the eye of the assessors. It was also a most fulfilling experience to know I have completed the course and been one of the few to gain the UEFA A Licence. Football has been my career for some years now and I am determined to never stop learning in this ever changing coaching game."

Herbert was in England courtesy of a Prime Minister's Scholarship, awarded through SPARC with a direct focus on studying towards and achieving the UEFA A Licence. The Prime Minister's Scholarship is designed to assist a coach or official to better themselves and to pass on that knowledge to the code back home.

New Zealand Soccer CEO Graham Seatter says the entire organisation can be proud of Herbert's achievement.

"Ricki is someone who is constantly looking to learn more about the game and the art of coaching. His efforts in gaining the UEFA A Licence are meritorious but all the more so given his high pass marks in what was clearly a very tough course. He has represented himself, New Zealand Soccer and SPARC brilliantly in attaining this world renowned qualification."