OFC News

Courtesy Relay - The FIFA World Cup^TM will head to South America in 2014 following a decision taken by the FIFA Executive Committee, chaired by President Joseph S. Blatter, on the second day of its meeting at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.

This decision fulfilled the long-time wish of CONMEBOL to see the competition return to South America for the first time since Argentina in 1978, and advocates the recommendation of the FIFA Strategic Study Committee.

In view of this decision, the executive felt that further discussions regarding the future rotation of the hosting of the FIFA World Cup^TM could provisionally be put on ice.

With regard to the FIFA Club World Championship, the Executive Committee unanimously stood by the decision it took in Zurich on 8 March 2002 to next hold this event in 2005.

The coordinated international match calendar for the 2005-2008 period was endorsed and can now serve as the basis for the coordination of fixture lists for national leagues, continental club and national team championships, as well as for all FIFA competitions (see attachment).

A report from the chairman of the Sports Medical Committee, Dr Michel D'Hooghe (Belgium), on the World Conference on Doping in Sport, held in Copenhagen earlier this week, met with full consent from the executive (see separate media announcements on FIFA.com on this topic explaining FIFA's position on doping).

Satisfaction was also expressed at the report from the first meeting of the Internal Audit Committee on 5 March as well as the financial status of FIFA at the end of 2002 and the four-year cycle from 1999 to 2002. A detailed rundown of FIFA's finances will be presented at a special media conference once the audit has been completed (see separate media release on the first meeting of Internal Audit Committee).

Additional topics covered included:

- The executive confirmed the proposal from the Organising Committee for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany^TM that the confederations governing football in Africa (CAF) and South America (CONMEBOL) be permitted to commence their qualifying competitions this autumn, prior to the Preliminary Draw on 5 December 2003.

- It was decided that a proposal from CONMEBOL to increase the number of finalist teams at the 2006 FIFA World Cup^TM from 32 to 36 must first be discussed in detail with the various parties involved, most notably the hosts of the competition (the German Football Association), before a final decision can be made at the next FIFA Executive Committee meeting on 3 May.

- A code of conduct for the six African candidates bidding to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup^TM finals was approved. The same code was previously used for the candidates for the 2006 competition.

- The executive was delighted with the work of the Players' Status Committee, under the leadership of Slim Aloulou (Tunisia), and also the positive and constructive dialogue between club and players' representatives in the Dispute Resolution Chamber. Furthermore, the committee agreed to President Blatter's proposal that the revised FIFA Statutes explain in clearer terms FIFA's responsibilities in matters such as international transfers.

- The executive also heard about discussions with the European Union concerning the special status of sport, due to be laid down in the draft of the new European Constitution.

- The chairman of the Referees' Committee, Angel Maria Villar (Spain), spoke about ongoing work in his area and confirmed his committee's support for the use of artificial turf. Proposals to the Executive Committee regarding the upper age limit for international referees and the ranking of referees are being prepared by the Referees' Committee.

- The chairman of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Football Tournaments 2004, Issa Hayatou (Cameroon), reiterated his concerns about the precarious situation regarding a stadium in Athens itself. FIFA hopes to find a concrete solution to this problem during a forthcoming inspection visit on 11-17 March 2003.

- The executive ratified the proposal from the Committee for Women's Football to award the hosting of the second FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship to the Football Association of Thailand.

- The Chinese Taipei Football Association was granted the honour of staging the FIFA Futsal World Championship 2004.

- As for beach soccer, the executive decided to gather information from FIFA's member national associations in order to obtain a better insight into this variation of the game.

- The executive backed the request from the chairman of the National Associations Committee, Dr Viacheslav Koloskov (Russia), to make a final effort to solve the conflict between the government and football authorities in Azerbaijan, which has now drawn out for some months. Furthermore, the committee discussed current issues concerning various other national including American Samoa, and also stressed the importance for national associations to respect the Standard Statutes drawn up by FIFA.

OFC RELEASE - The venue and official draw for the 2003 OFC Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament has now been confirmed.

The Belconnen Soccer Centre in Canberra, Australia will be the official venue for the tournament which runs from 5-13 April, 2003. The Belconnen Soccer Centre was the venue for the highly successful Australia Cup involving the top women's national teams of Australia, Sweden, Mexico and South Korea last February.

Australia and New Zealand are the two seeded teams and will head Group A and Group B respectively. Joining Australia in Group A are Samoa, Fiji and the Cook Islands. Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu joins New Zealand in Group B.

There will be three matches played per match day during the group stages from 5-9 March. The top two teams from each group will then contest the semi-finals on 11 April. The semi-finals will follow a cross-over format where the top placed team from Group plays the second placed team from Group B and the top Group B team will play the second placed Group A team. The losers of both semi-finals will contest a third and fourth place playoff on 13 April. This match will be the curtain raiser for the final.

The last OFC Women's World Cup Qualifiers were held in Auckland, New Zealand back in 1998 with the FIFA Women's World Cup held in the United States the following year. Australia qualified through on that occasion. The decision to push back this year's World Cup and Oceania qualifiers was to avoid a clash with the FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan last year.

Next month's winner will represent Oceania at the fourth FIFA Women's World Cup, which will be held for the second time in China from 23 September-11 October, 2003. Sixteen countries will compete for the prized trophy.

2003 OFC Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament

Belconnen Soccer Centre, Canberra ACT, Australia

5-13 March, 2003

Group A

Australia

Samoa

Fiji

Cook Islands

Group B

New Zealand

Papua New Guinea

Vanuatu

Match Schedule:

5th April 2003

2:00pm / Pool A Samoa vs Cook Islands

4:30pm / Pool B PNG vs Vanuatu

7:00pm / Pool A Australia vs Fiji

7th April 2003

2:00pm / Pool B Vanuatu vs New Zealand

4:30pm / Pool A Fiji vs Cook Islands

7:00pm / Pool A Australia vs Samoa

9th April 2003

2:00pm / Pool A Fiji vs Samoa

4:30pm / Pool A Australia vs Cook Islands

7:00pm / Pool B New Zealand vs PNG

11th April 2003

TBA Semi-final 1 - Winner Pool B vs Runner up Pool A

TBA Semi-final 2 - Winner Pool A vs Runner up Pool B

13th April 2003

TBA 3rd/4th Loser SF1 vs Loser SF2

TBA Final Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2

Sydney speedster Brett Emerton has continued the Australian run of success as the latest Oceania Footballer of the Year. Emerton was announced today as the 2002 winner by 17 votes from defending champion Harry Kewell with third-placed Mark Schwarzer completing a Socceroo trifecta.

Emerton, who plays with Feyenoord in Holland, polled 63 votes from Kewell (46) and Schwarzer (39) to score his biggest total in the poll and his first major individual success.

It is a great achievement after finishing third in the previous year and another boost for Australia and Oceania," Emerton said.

We've shown our potential with the recent win over England and that we have quality players who can match it with the best in the world.

With the Oceania winner going direct to the World Cup finals, I hope Australia can now qualify."

Emerton praised the decision by Australian coach Frank Farina to look for a base in England to play internationals.

The team is full of intelligent players and it's anybody's guess what we can do if we get together and play regular games," he said.

Oceania president Basil Scarsella said the result showed the depth of talent in the region, especially in Australia.

He pointed out that Emerton decided to wait until he had more senior experience before trialling in Europe.

Emerton has done very well in his career and I think the best is still to come for him in the stronger leagues of England, Italy and Spain," Scarsella said.

I'm sure we'll see him in those leagues, sooner rather than later."

Emerton first appeared in the poll in 2000 when he was fifth with 21 votes while Kewell and Schwarzer have regularly received votes since 1998.

The poll this year attracted 27 player nominations, one less than the biggest figure established in 1997.

Another interesting factor was the spread of voting with other leading Oceania players gaining increased figures.

New Zealand"s Simon Elliott came fourth with his biggest total so far of 34 while team mates Ryan Nelsen and Ivan Vicelich also polled strongly. The best of the other Oceania nations was Fiji's Esala Masi with 18.

The national coaches and senior officials of all national associations as well as selected sports journalists from around the Oceania region, are invited to vote. The Oceania Footballer of the Year Award is coordinated annually by veteran Australian based journalist Ted Simmons, in conjunction with the Oceania Football Confederation. An official presentation of the award to Emerton will be made later in the year upon his availability. - AAP

Photo: Brett Emerton

Courtesy Relay - In view of the current world political climate and having carefully weighed up all the options, the FIFA Executive Committee, meeting today (Thursday) in Zurich, has approved FIFA President Joseph. S Blatter's proposal to postpone the FIFA World Youth Championship 2003 to a later date. The tournament was due to be played in the United Arab Emirates from 25 March - 16 April.

For FIFA President Blatter, the welfare of all parties was always the prime consideration. "FIFA regrets having to make this decision, because the team of local organisers, who have worked tremendously hard, were more than ready to host this tournament. But FIFA must take into account its responsibilities towards the players, officials and other parties, as well as towards the media and spectators.

OFC release - Australia beat New Caledonia 4-0 in the second final playoff match at the Stade Pentecost in Noumea, New Caledonia played on Saturday 1 March, 2003.

The match played in hot, humid conditions was evenly poised at half-time with the New Caledonians managing to get several shots on goal. None found the mark, but the Young Socceroos struggled to get into their pattern and only had their first real opportunity near the break.

But after an evenly balanced first half, the Young Socceroos struck the first blow just several minutes into the second half with Adam Casey scoring. From there the morale of the New Caledonians sapped away as the young Australians quickly capitalised with three more goals in quick succession to Eric Paartalu, Matthew Deegan and a penalty to Kristian Sarkies after Deegan was brought down in the box.

New Caledonia proved to be highly competitive yet again today but the class of the Young Socceroos was too much in the end. Having benefited from playing in a tough group qualifying series, the Aussies were able to finish the job with a convincing overall 7-1 aggregate over the final playoff series and now move on to represent Oceania at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland from 13-30 August, 2003.

2003 OFC U-17 QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT

FINAL PLAYOFF 2: Australia vs New Caledonia

KICK-OFF TIME: 9:00am

VENUE: Stade Pentecost, Noumea

HALF-TIME SCORE - 0-0

FULL-TIME SCORE - 4-0 Australia

CAUTIONS - # 8 Laurent Cazassas (NCL) 37'; # 8 Adrian Leijer (AUS) 77

EXPULSIONS - none

WEATHER/CROWD - fine, warm - crowd: N/A

MATCH OFFICIALS - Referee: Derek Rugg (New Zealand), Assistant Referee 1: Sam Hunt (Samoa), Assistant Referee 2: Teariki Goodwin (Cook Islands), Fourth Official: Peter O'Leary (New Zealand)

TEAM LISTS (goal-scorers, subs):

Australia:

5. BENJAMIN PHILLIP GRIFFIN, 6. EVANGELOS KARAVITIS (sub # 2 Jacob Timpano 45'), 7. YIANNI SARRIS, 8. ADRIAN LEIJER (goal 52'), 9. ERIC ENDEL PAARTALU (goal 61'), 10. ADAM MICHAEL CASEY, 12. KRISTIAN RONALD SARKIES (pen 82'), 13. TIMOTHY JAMES SMITS (sub # 16 Matthew Deegan 66'), 14. MATT CHRISTOPHER HILTON (sub # 17 Angelo Martino 45'), 18. MARIO ANDRES APARICIO, 19. DANE ADAM RICHARDSON

Subs - 1. NATHAN JAMES HUGHES, 2. JACOB LUIGI TIMPANO, 3. NIGEL BOOGAARD, 4. KEEGAN BRADY WOLFENDEN, 11. LACHLIN CAHILL, 15. RICHARD CARLOS CARDOZO, 17. ANGELO MARTIN

16. MATTHEW DEEGAN (sub 74')

COACH - Ange Postecoglou

New Caledonia:

4. XENIE JEAN-CHRIS, 5. VENDEGOU KENJY, 7. WAMOWE MONE, 8. CAZASSUS LAURENT, 9. BOANEMOA RAPHAEL (sub # 2 Xanatare Pascal 52'), 10. BOWEN ULRICH (sub # 18 Adrien Poatyie 63'), 11. HNAGEJE ALBERT, 12. BOAOUTHO ALOPHE, 16. GAEL OUEDOY (sub # 13 Diela Roberto 76'), 19. NEIMBO JORDAN, 20. WEJIEMEE MMANUEL

Subs - 1. MOLEANA-MOUGEL THIBAUD, 2. XANATARE PASCAL, 3. JOEL WAKANUMNE, 13. DIELA ROBERTO, 14. CHEVRY ARNAUD, 17. PAWAWI ROMARIC, 15. MANUEL CONSIGNY, 18. POATYIE ADRIEN

COACH - Eric Altmeyer

* All kick-off times and match day dates are local.

(ends)

OFC release - Australia have won the first match of the 2003 OFC U-17 Qualifying Tournament final playoffs beating New Caledonia yesterday by 3-1 at the Stade Pentecost in Noumea.

The Australians led 2-0 at half-time, but the end score line would have flattered even the visitors as the hosts proved worthy opponents and competitive in all phases. What they lacked was the finishing and precision of the Australians who have shown the ability to score from any situation during the course of the qualifiers.

Australia's three goals all came from set piece plays, two from free kicks and one from a corner in the second half. But the New Caledonians held their own in general play and were able to score a brilliant goal of their own when profilic striker Mone Wamowe scored midway through the second half.

But once again, it was the class and overall accuracy of the well drilled Australians that made the difference. Kristian Sarkies free kick in the 24th minute was matched by Richard Carlos Cardozzo's effort just before half-time. Cardozzo, the tournament's leading goal-scorer took his tally to thirteen with his second goal of the match with barely two minutes after the break.

The young Australians have made a habit of putting away opposing teams on either side of half-time when they are at their most dangerous, and when other teams start to tire - and today's game was no exception.

The only sour point was replacement Oliver Totani being sent off by New Zealand referee Peter O'Leary for a late challenge in the dying moments of the match. He will miss the second playoff scheduled for Saturday, 1 March at the early time of 9:00am as agreed by the two participating national associations and OFC.

A smallish crowd of just over 300 people turned up but a bigger crowd is expected on Saturday.

2003 OFC U-17 QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT

FINAL PLAYOFF 1: New Caledonia vs Australia

KICK-OFF TIME: 4:00pm

VENUE: Stade Pentecost, Noumea

HALF-TIME SCORE - 0-2 Australia

FULL-TIME SCORE - 1-3 Australia

CAUTIONS - # 10 Bowen UIrich (NCL) 12'; # 17 Angelo Martino (AUS) 52'; # 14 Matt Hilton (AUS) 57

EXPULSIONS - # 20 Oliver Totani (AUS) 86

WEATHER/CROWD - fine, warm - crowd: approx 300 +

MATCH OFFICIALS - Referee: Peter O¹Leary (New Zealand), Assistant Referees: Teariki Goodwin (Cook Islands) and Sam Hunt (Samoa), Fourth Official: Derek Rugg (New Zealand), Match Commissioner: Tautulu Roebeck (Samoa)

TEAM LISTS (goal-scorers, subs):

Australia:

1. NATHAN JAMES HUGHES, 3. NIGEL BOOGAARD, 4. KEEGAN BRADY WOLFENDEN, 5. BENJAMIN PHILLIP GRIFFIN, 9. ERIC ENDEL PAARTALU (sub -78'), 11. LACHLIN CAHILL, 12. KRISTIAN RONALD SARKIES (goal 24'), 13. TIMOTHY JAMES SMITS, 14. MATT CHRISTOPHER HILTON, 15. RICHARD CARLOS CARDOZO (sub -57') (goal 42', 47'), 17. ANGELO MARTIN (sub -78' for Adrian Leijer)

SUBS - 2. JACOB LUIGI TIMPANO, 6. EVANGELOS KARAVITIS, 7. YIANNI SARRIS, 8. ADRIAN LEIJER (sub +78'), 10. ADAM MICHAEL CASEY (sub +57'), 16. MATTHEW DEEGAN, 18. MARIO ANDRES APARICIO, 19. DANE ADAM RICHARDSON, 20. OLIVER TOTANI (sub +78')

COACH - Ange Postecoglou

New Caledonia:

4. XENIE JEAN-CHRIS, 5. VENDEGOU KENJY, 7. WAMOWE MONE (goal 67'), 8. CAZASSUS LAURENT, 9. BOANEMOA RAPHAEL (sub -80'), 10. BOWEN ULRICH (sub -86'), 11. HNAGEJE ALBERT, 12. BOAOUTHO ALOPHE, 18. POATYIE ADRIEN (sub -67'), 19. NEIMBO JORDAN, 20. WEJIEMEE MMANUEL

Subs - 1. MOLEANA-MOUGEL THIBAUD, 2. XANATARE PASCAL (sub +80'), 6. BOAE-POATCHILE RODRIQUE, 13. DIELA ROBERTO (sub +67'), 14. CHEVRY ARNAUD (sub +86'), 17. PAWAWI ROMARIC, 15. MANUEL CONSIGNY

COACH - Eric Altmeyer

* All kick-off times and match day dates are local

OFC Release - New Caledonia has now been confirmed to face Australia in the 2003 OFC U-17 Qualifying Tournament final playoff.

The OFC Executive Committee by majority decision has agreed that consistent to the previous decision of the Executive Committee relating to the 2002 OFC Nations Cup, New Caledonia is to proceed to the play off series (as winners of Group A) with the winner of Group B.

In accordance with the tournament regulations, Soccer Australia and the Federation de Football Ligue de Nouvelle have agreed to stage both playoff matches in Noumea, New Caledonia.

The first playoff match will be held tomorrow, Thursday 27 February with the kick-off time scheduled for 4:00pm local time. The second match will be played on Saturday morning, 1 March with the kick-off time scheduled for 9:00am.

The Match Officials for both playoff matches are as follows.

Playoff Match 1

Referee: Peter O'Leary (New Zealand)

Assistant Referee 1: Teariki Goodwin (Cook Islands)

Assistant Referee 2: Sam Hunt (Samoa)

Fourth Official: Derek Rugg (New Zealand)

Match Commissioner: Tautulu Roebeck (Samoa)

Playoff Match 2

Referee: Derek Rugg (New Zealand)

Assistant Referee 1: Sam Hunt (Samoa)

Assistant Referee 2: Teariki Goodwin (Cook Islands)

Fourth Official: Peter O'Leary (New Zealand)

Match Commissioner: Tautulu Roebeck (Samoa)

Vanuatu secured second place in Group B of the 2003 OFC U-17 Qualifying Tournament with a hard fought 3-2 win over Tahiti in the last match of the group tonight at Maroochydore Soccer Centre in the Sunshine Coast, Australia.

Vanuatu leapfrogged New Zealand to finish second on the final standings after the Solomon Islands held the kiwis to a 0-0 draw in the first match of the evening.

Tahiti pushed Vanuatu all the way and were still in the game with twenty minutes to go in the match and on level terms at 2-2. But Vanuatu striker Sylverstone Kanegai answered his country's call by scoring the game winning goal in the 74th minute.

Vanuatu went into the break with a narrow 2-1 lead thanks to goals to Charles Ligo after two minutes and John Alick Harry just before half-time. Tahiti scored through Tahi Jason in the 15th minute.

The second half began with both sides fiercely trying to gain the upper hand. The increasingly difficult playing conditions coincided with the contest taking on a more physical nature as the main pitch began to deteriorate after the two earlier games were hampered by rainy spells.

Three cautions were dished out in the middle of the second half and Tahiti were able to capitalise on frustration from their opponents by stunning Vanuatu with an equalising goal in the 67th minute. From there Vanuatu were able to regain their composure to orchestrate the game winning goal in the dying stages.

Afterwards, Vanuatu technical director and national coach, Carlos Buzzetti was all smiles and his elation was also reflected on the joyous celebrations by the players.

It was very satisfying to come through after such a tough game. We're happy to come second in this tough group and proves our second place at the Oceania U-16 tournament last year was no fluke," he said.

We lost two of our best players, including a top goal scorer, before the game due to suspension from carrying two yellow cards into this match, but the others responded well and kept their composure. Tahiti played well and really took to us.

The final playoff will now take place on 28 February and 5 March and decide who represents Oceania at the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland this August.

Vanuatu: 3

goals: # 8 Charles Ligo 2'; # 7 John Alick Harry 34'; # 12 Sylverstone Kanegai 74

Tahiti: 2

goals: # 9 Tahiti Jason 67

HT: 2-1 Vanuatu

Cautions: # 7 Charles Ligo (VAN) 54'; # 6 Horoi Jeff 54'; # 4 Geoffrey Lego Lete 59

Crowd: 250+

Weather: Rain, slippery conditions - humid

Australia was in a class of its own, defying the wet and slippery conditions on offer at Maroochydore Soccer Centre to completely overwhelm Tonga by 14 unanswered goals.

Having already won Group B, tonight's display was a dress rehearsal for the final playoff starting 28 February.

The young Aussies navigated the conditions well and did not seem to pertubed by the weather unlike the two sides that struggled in the earlier match.

The goal-fest was in complete contrast to the first match of the evening between New Zealand and the Solomon Islands which ended in a nil all draw.

Had it not been for an outstanding display of goalkeeping by Tonga's Ataisi Tukimaka, the margin of victory would have been much greater.

Indeed the Tongans did well to not let the score run away in the second half after the Australians had amassed nine goals at the break.

Richie Carlos Cardozzo was the star attraction with a mighty six goal haul in the first half. Before the match he was sitting on five goals for the tournament, just one behind the top goalscorer of the 2003 OFC U-17 Qualifying Tournament, Osea Vakatalesau of Fiji, who tallied six goals over in Group A which finished last Saturday.

Cardozzo took his tournament tally to eleven goals, though this came with an extra game compared to Vakatalesau.

The other positive aspect of the contest was no bookings. The rain continues to pour on and off tonight restricting the crowd attendance. Vanuatu currently leads Tahiti 2-1 in the last match of the night, and in Group B.

Australia 14

goals: # 15 Richard Carlos Cardozzo 1', 6', 28', 36', 41', 43'; # 19 Dane Richardson 11', 37'; # 12 Kristian Sarkies 39'; # 6 Evangelos Karavitis 52'; # 20 Oliver Totani 65'; # 10 Adam Michael Casey 72'; # 14 Matt Hilton 75'; # 17 Angelo Martino 89

Tonga 0

HT: 9-0

Crowd: 250+

Weather: Rain, slippery conditions - humid

New Zealand and the Solomon Islands have battled to a dour 0-0 draw with both sides struggling in the slippery conditions at Maroochydore Soccer Centre caused by overnight rain.

It was a disappointing end to the 2003 OFC U-17 Qualifying Tournament for both teams with a smallish crowd of 250 plus missing out on what many anticipated would be an open encounter with both teams having nothing to lose except pride and second place in Group B.

New Zealand were perhaps the more successful of the two teams in coming to terms with the conditions but the Solomon Island were resolute and just as determined. But despite the obvious frustrations shown by players by both sides in not being able to play their natural games, the match did not deteriorate thankfully into an ill-mannered contest.

There were some physical exchanges but only one yellow card was dished out the whole game, to New Zealand's Michael White for charging into a Solomons player. Ironically, that was the first caution the entire tournament for the kiwis and they were subsequently awarded the Fairplay trophy for their impeccable disciplinary record and for playing in the spirit of the game.

Vanuatu plays Tahiti in the last match tonight and is now heavily favoured to take second place if they win. They are missing star striker Jean Emmanuel Maleb and John Mark Simeon through statuory suspension for getting two yellow cards from previous matches.

Australia, who has already officially won Group B after beating New Zealand 3-1 last Saturday, is currently playing Tonga and reports from the Sunshine Coast in Australia say Australia is leading by four goals with fifteen minutes till half-time.

New Zealand 0

Solomon Islands 0

caution: # 13 Michael White 68

crowd: 250+

weather: slippery conditions, rain - 27 degrees celsius