SUVA – The Fiji Football Association (FFA) celebrated it’s 70th Anniversary last year. As a new dawn breaks on 2009, Fiji Live reporter Reginald Chandar takes a moment to look back on the highlights of a momentous milestone in the history of football in Fiji.

Unlike previous years, Ba failed to completely dominate the local scene and only managed to win the National League and the Battle Of the Giants tournament.

The major events were well organized with Labasa for the first time in 14 years claiming the Champion versus Champion title after outclassing 13 times champs Ba in both legs of the series.

The victory in CVC gave the fans of the Babasiga Lions a lot of hopes before the commencement of the 2008 soccer season proper.

Labasa continued its fine form in the opening rounds of the NEWWORLD National League and looked serious of retaining its title which it won after a lapse of 16 seasons last year.

With the Fiji FA deciding to play the league over two rounds and the winner of the first round gaining a chance to represent the country in the O-League, competition between Ba and Labasa went to the wire with the final match of the round at Govind Park left to decide the winner.

Sensational midfielder Malakai Tiwa scored the winner in the match to once again put Ba in the O League, making it three in a row for the Men In Black and dashing the hopes of the northerners.

The second round of the league also proved exciting as Ba and Labasa went head to head making the last match between the two Vodafone sponsored sides at Subrail Park one of the biggest and most memorable one of the season.

Labasa’s own sons Pita Bolaitoga and Maciu Dunadamu nailed the two goals in the match to give the league title to their newly adopted district.

The Fiji FACT at Nadi’s Prince Charles Park, the first major tournament on the FFA calendar saw defending champs Ba bowing out in pool play after losing to Lautoka and Suva respectively.

In the semis, Lautoka went down to eventual winners Navua 0-2 while Labasa, the most consistent team in the tournament sent Suva packing by hammering them 3-0 to book a date with the Southern Forest sponsored side.

Nadroga import Epeli Saukuru who just joined Navua during the semifinal due to the opening of the new window proved to be a worthy investment for the Anil Sharma administered side as he scored the winner in the final against Labasa.

While Navua celebrated its win, Labasa soccer officials openly demonstrated their frustration after the final and alleged their two key players, Pita Bolaitoga and Maciu Dunadamu of taking bribe from Navua officials and giving the match away to Navua.

This accusation caused a stir in the soccer circles and Fiji Football Association had to set up an independent committee to investigate the claims of Labasa officials as the parent body saw the accusation serious and wanted thorough investigation.

The committee after its findings summoned the players and the officials of Labasa to attend a meeting in which the Labasa boss Abinesh Kumar withdrew the claims labeled on the two players.

The move saw Navua soccer boss Anil Sharma voicing his frustration openly as he claimed the baseless allegations by Labasa officials on him and his association warranted severe disciplinary action from Fiji FA as the allegations were serious and defamatory in nature.

However to date it is still unclear as to what sort of disciplinary action was taken on the Labasa soccer officials for the claims on the two players who after the incident decided to abandon the district and featured for Ba for the reminder of the season.

The Battle Of the Giants tournament in Suva also had its bit of drama as indiscipline crept into the Suva side following their semifinal loss to Labasa which prompted players and officials to attack referee Dhiren Kewal.

Kewal had awarded a controversial penalty to Labasa in the highly tensed match which was leveled 2-2 before the decision.

The Suva bench claimed Kewal had favored the northerners which ignited the tension and two Suva players and an official were remanded in Police custody after the incident and appeared in the Magistrates court the next day.

While the Court did not give the three harsh punishments for their action and gave them time to compromise with Kewal, the Fiji FA disciplinary committee fined players Yogesh Narayan, Sedrick Dutt and official Riyaz Hussein and also handed down suspensions to the trio.

Also for the very first time in the history of the sport, random drug tests were conducted in the tournament following the outbursts in the media by former Rewa and national rep Patrick Wise that the usage of drugs by players in the country was prevalent during the tournaments.

4-5 players were tested at a cost of $472 per test and to date the results of the tests have not been made public as FFA officials were reluctant to release more information into the issue.

On the tournament proper, Ba once again reigned supreme in the tournament and defended its title successfully after defeating arch rivals Labasa in the final 2-0 thanks to goals from Labasa imports Maciu Dunadamu and Pita Bolaitoga.

Labasa had upset Ba in pool play but the Men In Black turned the tide on Labasa in the final and returned to the west with the FMF sponsored title.

Ba had piped Navua 1-0 in the second semifinal while Labasa edged Suva 3-2 in the first.

Lautoka claimed the Inter District Championship (IDC) title, the biggest and most awaited tournament of the year and repeated its feat of 2005 when it hoisted the Lloyd Farebrother Cup after 20 years.

While hosts Ba looked top bets for the title before the tournament, teams like Navua, Nadi, Labasa, Nadroga and Lautoka proved during the tournament that they are no pushovers and kept the fans entertained during the four days of soccer feast at Govind Park.

Lautoka with Wailotua brothers Peni Finau and Osea Vakatalesau alongside Australians Ali Cem Akbal, Goran Subara and Nikola Zonjic proved worthy opponents for Ba in the final and played their hearts out in front of the Ba crowd which filled the stands to support their team.

Tavualevu villager and Fiji U23 defender Malakai Waqa who had a quiet tournament scored a scintillating goal from a 35 metre drive which found the back of the net to hand the Blues yet another famous win over their neighbors and arch rivals.

While a total of 22 foreigners featured in the Courts/Homecentres sponsored tournament, only a handful managed to shine in the tournament with Lautoka goalie Ali Cem Akbal stealing the limelight with his brilliant performance throughout the tournament.

In the Premier division, Tailevu Naitasiri reigned supreme after beating a relatively unknown Tailevu North outfit 1-0 through a last minute penalty to hoist the spoils.

Tailevu North was the surprise package in the tournament as the Dairy Town boys sent defending champs Rakiraki out of the tournament in pool play and accounted for Nalawa in the semifinal before facing their neighbors in the final.

Lautoka Primary took the tops honors in the Primary schools division while DAV Ba won the Secondary schools title.

Veteran Tavua goalie Jone Turagarere who was the oldest player featuring the tournament scooped a special prize for his service to the sport while Lovoni, Ovalau native and Lautoka soccer captain Jone Vono Junior was the named the best player of the tournament.

The removal of soccer commentator Raymond Stoddart from his commentary booth during the semifinal was another highlight of the tournament as people listening to the live commentaries at home had to miss his voice as FFA officials claimed Stoddart had made some personal attacks at the match officials which the parent body condoned.

The National Club Championship
which had more districts nominating their clubs this season was played over two weekends with the first round of games played in Suva, Sigatoka and Labasa and the finals played at Govind Park in Ba.

Rewa clubs Raymonds and United which qualified for the finals pulled out of the tournament after Fiji FA decided not to shift the venue from Govind Park despite any clubs from Ba making the finals.

Combine of Navua created history in Ba as it won the NCC title for the first time since its inception 22 years ago.

The club laced with Navua reps accounted for Nadi’s Eagles 1-0 in the semifinal and outclassed GM United of Lautoka 3-0 in the final.

The Promotion Relegation series between Nadroga and Tailevu Naitasiri rounded up the 2008 domestic season and as expected the two legs of the series provided a lot sparks as Nadroga did its utmost to remain in the Super Premier division while Tailevu Naitasiri fired all weapons in its armory to gain a place in the top league.

The first match at Lawaqa Park ended in a 1-1 draw which made the second match at Ratu Cakobau Park very interesting as a win to either would decide their fate for the new season.

Tailevu Naitasiri backed by its home crowd started the match well and scored a goal through Zaid Suleman to lead Nadroga at halftime.

However a double from super sub John Rounds Junior saved Nadroga from demotion and broke Tailevu Naitasiri’s unbeaten record of 13 matches and dashed the hopes of the southerners.

On the international scene, Fiji’s biggest achievement this season was its 2-0 victory over New Zealand in a dead fixture of the 2010 World Cup Qualifier at Churchill Park in Lautoka.

Two brilliant goals by Roy Krishna did not only register Fiji’s victory over the Kiwis after a lapse of 24 years but also give Fiji the best ranking to date on the FIFA World Ranking.

Fiji jumped 31 places to move from 137 to 106, one of the best for the South Seas Islanders in recent times.

Ba also after its IDC loss bounced back in style to beat Hekari Souths of PNG 2-1 to remain in the hunt for the top spot in group B of the O League.

The Yogendra Dutt coached side had earlier held Koloale FC of the Solomon Islands goal-less at Govind Park.

While Fiji hosted the OFC U23 Olympic Qualifiers in Lautoka and the OFC FUTSAL World Cup Qualifier at the Vodafone Arena in Suva, the national teams failed to take advantage of their home crowd support and failed to qualify for the two world stage events.

Fiji finished third in the Olympic Qualifier behind New Zealand and Solomon Islanders and fourth in the FUTSAL Qualifier behind Solomon Islands,Vanuatu and Tahiti.

Fiji striker Kamal Hassan nevertheless scooped the golden boot award in the FUTSAL Qualifier after scoring 14 goals in the tourney.

In the remaining 2010 matches against Vanuatu, Fiji registered a 2-0 win at home through goals to Auckland City midfielder Salesh Kumar and Maciu Dunadamu and lost its away match 0-1 in Port Villa which raised a lot of questions about performance of national coaching director Juan Carlos Buzzetti.

Former national captain Abdul Mannan, former rep Inia Tukana and former Navua administrator Kamal Narayan issued a joint press release after Fiji’s result against Vanuatu and questioned the development programs of Fiji and the leadership style of Dr Sahu Khan, the president of Fiji Football Association.

They also called for Dr Khan to step down and make way for young blood to run the affairs of Fiji FA.

Fiji FA was also challenged to hold a public forum so that members of the public can voice their concerns about the leadership and development issues and had their challenge accepted when Dr Khan agreed to the idea of a public forum and the first ever forum was organized in Suva which was attended by close to 100 soccer enthusiasts.

In the forum, Dr Khan told the public that he was not going to step down from presidency and challenged the critics to contribute positively towards the development of the sport.

Narayan was frustrated after the forum and had said Dr Khan used his bulldozing tactics to overrule the ideas and suggestions that came from the floor.

Mannan continues to challenge the decisions and the development issues of the FFA and wants a change.

In his latest move, he has volunteered to run his own football clinics from next season to develop football from the grass root development.

The dismal performance of the Fiji U20 at the OFC Qualifiers in Tahiti earlier this month where the team lost all its matches in the playoff picked up its share of criticism from the public and members of football fraternity with calls for Buzzetti to be fired and Dr Khan to step down.

Dr Khan in a press conference last week said he was content with his work and was not going to step down as he had the mandate of the district associations who fully supported him.

He also announced that the new FIFA funded soccer academy earlier planned for Nadawa will now be built in Vatuwaqa with works expected to end before the completion of next year.

A southern academy will indeed boost the sport in the division and a similar academy should also be planned for the northern division as there is huge talent there and more districts situated in the region.

While the season had its ups and downs, Labasa soccer wonder boy Roy Krishna shined the most in 2008 and was the top achiever of the season as he became the first ever Fijian to play at the Club World Cup in Japan.

The 21 year old Siberia lad has shone on both the local and the international scene and deserves to walk away with the Best Player Award during the Fiji Football Awards planned for next month.

His awesome goals against New Zealand and the super class one against Ba in pool play of the Battle Of the Giants will remain fresh in the minds of many soccer lovers for sometime.

2009 is predicted to be a bright season for Fiji FA but will our national teams be able to qualify for a world stage event or better still will Ba be able to play in the Club World Cup next season still remains to be seen.

Story courtesy www.fijilive.com

Written by Reginald Chandar