The Football Federation of American Samoa appealed to players, referees, fans and officials throughout the country to help praise and promote the spirit of fair play on FIFA Fair Play. The idylic setting of the  New National Headquarters at Pago Park on Wednesday 19th September was again resplendent in the warm Samoa sunshineas part of the International Day of Peace.

FIFA Fair Play Day was celebrated in conjunction with the Department of Education Elementary School League which has a record entry of 27 schools this year totalling 54 boys and girls teams. This equates to over 1000 players.

Special guests at the event included the Director of Education Dr Claire Poumele, DOE Deputy Director Mr Philo Jennings AND Assistant Director for Elementary Division Mr Tuumolimoli Moliga. Principal of A.P. Lutalia Elementary Mr Siauini  Taala gave the opening prayers representing the other three school principals who joined the large crowd to witness a wonderful and enjoyable afternoon of football.

The day started with a march past to the FIFA Anthem followed by the stadium announcement of the Fair Play Day by Maselino Tautu and the Fair Play declarations by the captains of the schools participating on the day.

Department of Education Director Dr Calire Poumele who made the keynote address gave special remarks to the children, regarding the values of Fair Play whilst also congratulating the association efforts, FIFA and OFC in developing the local youth at all levels.

To close the ceremony all 120 children conducted a prematch handshake followed by one huge group photo. 4 exciting games between the schools from A.P. Lutali, Matatula, Masefau and Olomoana concluded and crowned a great day for Football.

 

For the eleventh year running FIFA is holding the World Fair Play Days to coincide with the United Nations International Day of Peace (21 September), an invitation to all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities around the world. The world governing body will also devote the quarter-final matches of the FIFA World Women's World Cup in the Chinese cities of Tianjin and Wuhan on 22 and 23 September to a special activity on the pitch which will be broadcast to 200 territories across all six confederations. Shortly before kick-off at those particular games, both team captains will read a declaration to support fair play on the pitch and in society. As part of this statement, the players will also pledge support for the FIFA and UNICEF "Goals for Girls!" campaign and its two important goals of empowering women and guaranteeing access to school for all children.

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter unequivocally stressed FIFA's commitment to fair play as a far-reaching means of demonstrating responsibility both on and off the pitch: "We acknowledge the prominent role of sport and especially of football as a vehicle for delivering clear and firm messages to eradicate the major ills affecting society around the world. As the most popular sport, football is a universal language that can help bridge all social divides. Although fair play is a principle that applies all year round, the FIFA Fair Play Days give the football family the opportunity to celebrate fair play in a special way and to recognise and highlight the best examples of sportsmanship from the year.  Holding these events in conjunction with the International Day of Peace thus creates the perfect complement for essential peace-building programmes worldwide."

FIFA has invited all of its 208 member associations to join in the celebrations by gathering around a football pitch, highlighting the values of fair play and reminding the football family of the meaning of peace and the need for commitment to its realisation. FIFA has celebrated Fair Play Days since 1997 and this year is the fourth time that the events will be linked to the International Day of Peace. In previous years, activities have been held in dozens of countries around the world, from grassroots to top-flight football, including many community-based projects.

Throughout the year FIFA acknowledges teams' behaviour on and off the pitch in each of its competitions by awarding the FIFA Fair Play Trophy, medals and diplomas as well as a cheque for the purchase of adidas equipment for youth teams. In addition, the annual FIFA Fair Play Award at the FIFA World Player Gala held yearly in December honours outstanding gestures of fair play. For further information, please visit the official FIFA website, www.FIFA.com.

AS Exchange sit top of Tahiti's Division Federale following a 3-1 opening day victory over TAC to help mark FIFA Fairplay Day in French-Polynesia. In other results, last season's O-League representatives AS Temanava got off to a solid start with a 1-0 win over newly promoted Aorai. Temanava - coached by the colourful figure of Bernard Vaihirua were too good for the team from Maatea.

Division Federale title favourites AS Tefana and AS Dragon fought out a controversial 1-1 draw at the Stade de Pater with both sides reduced to ten men. AS Dragon's Steven Bennett was sent off for a reckless late tackle and he was joined by AS Tefana's Jean Petillon in the stands after Petillon stopped a goal bound shots with an arm.

Defending champions AS Manu Ura needed a late goal by Tahiti international Billy Mataitai to save their blushes against JT. JT had earlier taken the lead through Stanley Taata in the first-half with Mataitai's equaliser arriving in the 75th minute.

AS Pirae completed a miserable end to their 2007 Coupe Des DOM-TOM campaign with a crushing 7-2 loss at the hands of Club Franciscain (Martinique) in the match for third place. It was a sad end to the AS Pirae career of talismanic New Caledonia midfielder Jose Hmae who has been an ever present in the club's domestic success over the past three seasons.

Hmae - who helped guide New Caledonia to a South Pacific Games men's football gold medal in Samoa earlier this month - has signed a new contract with AS Mont Dore of New Caledonia and managed to end his stint with Les Oranges with a goal. Jeremy Dubois was also on target for Gerard Kutai's team, Kutai suffering a difficult  month in football with the Tahiti national team's stunning underachievement at the South Pacific Games in which Tahiti could only draw 1-1 with non-FIFA members Tuvalu under Kutai's leadership.

In the Coupe Des DOM-TOM Final Reunionais USST defeated USS Tamponnaise 3-0 to lift the trophy. From 2008, the Coupe Des DOM-TOM will be played out by League selections rather than club teams from Reuinion, Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinque, Tahiti and New Caledonia.

The Fiji men’s football  side has taken a major leap up the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola world ranking released this morning.

Following its recent performance in the Pacific Games this month, the Carlos Buzzetti coached side has moved up 51 places from 170th place and now sit at a comfortable 119th spot ahead of PG gold medal winners, New Caledonia who lag five places behind, Vanuatu at 133rd and the Solomon Islands at 121st.

“The ranking fluctuates according to the competition and tournaments held. Since the Pacific Games was a world cup qualifying event, this was taken into consideration and finishing second behind New Caledonia did not hinder our placing because the amount of goals Fiji scored was taken into consideration,” Bob Kumar, Fiji Football Association CEO said.

Fiji is ahead of New Zealand, who is yet to start their World Cup Qualifying campaign. The Kiwis are currently at 156th spot, down seven

Meanwhile a 2-1 victory over Ukraine in the race to qualify for EURO 2008 sees World Cup holders Italy (1st, up 2) climb ahead of Argentina (2nd, unchanged) and Brazil (3rd, down 2) in the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. The leading trio of teams have a clear advantage over the chasing pack, although Germany (4th, up 1) and the Netherlands (5th, up 2) have overtaken France (6th, down 2), who have lost a considerable amount of points on the back of their defeat at the hands of Scotland. Meanwhile, the Scots (14th, up 9) have taken giant strides up to 14th thanks to victories over Lithuania and France in the European Championship qualifiers, thereby equalling their best-ever position in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. 
 
There is also notable movement outside of the top 50. Several European teams have enjoyed significant gains after victories in EURO 2008 qualifiers, including Wales (53rd, up 21), Hungary (55th, up 10),  Belgium (60th, up 9), Cyprus (68th, up 14), Slovenia (75th, up 19), Iceland (80th, up 37), Moldova (81st, up 25) and Latvia (94th, up 16).

After defeating Cameroon in the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea (72nd,  up 33) are also among the major movers in September and they too currently sit in their best-ever position in the ranking.
 
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 24 October 2007.

  

TIANJIN, CHINA – The Football Ferns’ final FIFA Women’s World Cup group match against China in Tianjin has been postponed for a day due to Typhoon Wipha.

The match was due to kick-off at 8pm Wednesday (midnight Thursday NZ time) but will now be played 24 hours later due to a Typhoon sweeping through the Shanghai area.

On Tuesday, FIFA decided for safety reasons to postpone Wednesday’s Brazil-Denmark match in Shanghai, and the Group C match between Norway and Ghana in neighbouring Hangzhou, breaking from the established FIFA protocol of playing final group games at the same time.

Hours before Wednesday night’s kick-off FIFA subsequently announced New Zealand’s match against the hosts in Group D, and Australia’s match against Canada in Group C were also postponed – despite being unaffected by Typhoon Wipha – to allow for all group matches to be played simultaneously as originally scheduled.

All four rescheduled matches have a bearing on deciding the playoff places for their respective groups.

The match will be shown live on Sky Sports 3 at 12am Friday NZ time (8pm Thursday China time).

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The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ preliminary competition has also catapulted a number of Oceanian teams up the table with Fiji (119th, up 51), the Solomon Islands (121st, up 40), New Caledonia (124th, up 44), Vanuatu (133rd, up 34) and Samoa (147th, up 44) all claiming more than 100 points and jumping more than 30 places.

New Zealand (156th, down 7), who are yet to start their World Cup qualifying campaign, have therefore lost their lead in Oceania, at least for the time being.

RANKING

119       FIJI

121       SOLOMON ISLANDS

124       NEW CALEDONIA

133       VANUATU

147       SAMOA

156       NEW ZEALAND

161       TAHITI

167       TONGA

182       PAPUA NEW GUINEA

199       COOK ISLANDS

200       AMERICAN SAMOA

 

 

WUHAN, CHINA - Brazil took their goal tally to nine in two games after banging in four against China to all but guarantee a quarterfinal spot on matchday five of the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Two goals each to Marta and Christiane inside 70 minutes ensured an easy win for the Selecao while China must now beat the Football Ferns and improve their goal difference substantially if Denmark beat Brazil on Wednesday.

Marta’s second double in as many games takes her to the top of the golden shoe race with four goals ahead of Christiane and Australia’s Lisa De Vanna whose late equaliser against Norway keeps both teams equal at the top of Group C.

Meanwhile, Canada kept their quarterfinal hopes alive by beating Ghana 4-0 and must now beat Australia in their final group game to prevent the Australians from progressing out of the group stages for the first time in four attempts.

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WUHAN, CHINA – Two set-piece goals were ultimately the difference between New Zealand and Denmark on Saturday night as the Football Ferns lost 2-0 to the world number 6 in their second FIFA Women's World Cup group match. 

Heading into the tunnel at halftime level with the Danes, the Football Ferns were in with a real chance of making history with New Zealand’s first point at a senior World Cup, but they were ultimately undone by two ruthlessly efficient set-plays.

From a foul on the edge of New Zealand’s 18-yard box, Denmark’s Katrine Pederson curled the ensuing free-kick exquisitely over the New Zealand wall and into the top corner of Jenny Bindon’s net for a 61^st minute lead.

Five minutes later, Pederson again punished the Ferns from a set piece, this time by picking out the head of Cathrine Paaske Sorensen at the back post to double the lead.

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Tahiti's new season is just two weeks away but before the action starts defending Division Federale champions AS Manu Ura take on defending French-Polynesian Cup holders AS Tefana in the Trophy of Champions.

AS Manu Ura have been drawn in Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) O-League Group A alongside defending champions Waitakere United (NZL) and New Zealand Football Championship winners Auckland City (NZL).

The Trophy of Champions match will take place on Friday 14th September, 2007, kickoff 1930hrs local time.

Meanwhile, AS Pirae has qualified for the semi-final phase of a pre-season tournament and will take on USS Tamponaisse of Reunion Islands. In the other semi-final CONCACAF clubs Club Franciscain (Martinique) will meet Etoile Morne a l'Eau of Guadaloupe.

The matches are scheduled for Thursday 20th September, 2007, with AS Pirae's match kicking off at 1800hrs local time. Club Franciscain and Etoile Morne a l'Eau kicks off straight after at 2030hrs.

The final takes place on Sunday 23rd September, 2007, at 1700hrs, at the Manor of Doves, with the third place match occuring at the earlier kick-off time of 1430hrs.