The OFC Champions League is the regional showcase for the best club sides of Oceania and is widely followed across the globe as the winner qualifies to represent Oceania at the FIFA Club World Cup.
For the past two years the competition has been hosted in a single venue but that is set to change in 2017 as the competition splits into four separate stages.
Stage 1 is the Qualifying Stage for the national league champions of American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga which will open the competition calendar in 2017.
For the first time two teams from this Qualifying Stage will progress to Stage 2, the Group Stage of the OFC Champions League.
The draw proceedings will begin with the Official Draw of the Qualifying Stage of the OFC Champions League 2017.
Three teams have been confirmed; Lupe Ole Soaga (SAM), Utulei Youth FC (ASA) and Veitongo FC (TGA), with the Cook Islands champions yet to be determined.
The Official Draw of the OFC Champions League 2017 will follow, and for the first time it will be contested by 16 teams – two each from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu – which will be drawn into four groups, each one hosted in a different venue.
The seeding for teams starts with a ranking of 1-11 based on the club results of the 2016 OFC Champions League. The following rankings, 12 to 14, have been determined in order of the Member Association results in the 2016 edition of the competition.
The final two seedings will be based on the results of the two teams participating in the Qualifying Stage for the OFC Champions League 2017.
The 16 teams will be allocated into four pots which have been organised in order of the seeding with pot number representing the position the team will be placed in the group. For example: Pot 1 to Position 1.
Pot 5 will contain the groups that the team can be drawn into.
The Group Stage will consist of a round-robin league system to determine the top team in each group, those four teams will progress to Stage 3, or the semi-finals.
A further draw will be held involving the four group winners to determine their respective opponents for the home-and-away semi-finals, with the winners progressing to the final.
The two match home-and-away final will determine the winner of the 2017 OFC Champions League and the OFC representative at the FIFA Club World Cup 2017.
To watch the OFC Champions League 2017 Live Draw, click here .
Additional Information:
The OFC Champions League is the Confederation’s premier international club competition and brings together the top teams from around the Pacific to compete for the crown of regional club champion.
The 2017 tournament will be the 15th edition of this prestigious event which offers a much coveted prize – qualification to the FIFA Club World Cup.
Defending champions Auckland City FC will be chasing their ninth regional title, in a competition that has largely been dominated by themselves and Waitakere United.
Papua New Guinea club Hekari United became the first club outside of New Zealand or Australia to claim the prize with their 2010 victory, while Sydney FC, Wollongong Wolves and South Melbourne also have their place in the history books.

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