The tournament had been penciled in to begin tomorrow and end with the final and 3rd/4th play-off matches on Saturday 26 February, featuring four days of action and a rest day on Friday 25 February.
But that plan has had to be altered to allow the Vanuatu team to join fellow Pacific sides Solomon Islands, Fiji and Tahiti at the event. Each of the four teams were scheduled to gather in Auckland and depart for Papeete, Tahiti today but inclement weather in Port Vila over the weekend forced the cancellation of all flights out of the Vanuatu capital for 48 hours.
The championship will now kick off on Wednesday 23 February local time and will no longer include a rest day.
The winner of the tournament will go on to represent Oceania at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, set to be held in Ravenna, Italy during September.
Please note – since this article was written, the Port Vila airport has remained closed and Vanuatu will unfortunately not be able to attend the tournament. For further information and a revised schedule click here