OFC: The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) will be holding an extraordinary congress in Port Vila, Vanuatu this Saturday, 10 July. The congress will be hosted by the Vanuatu Football Federation (VFF) in conjunction with its 70th anniversary celebrations.
In attendance will be FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter who is making his fourth visit to the Oceania region since 2000. Mr Blatter’s last visit was in Auckland, New Zealand in August 2002 for the OFC Extraordinary Congress. Mr Blatter is due to arrive in Port Vila with a FIFA delegation tomorrow, Friday 9 July, following a stopover in Sydney.
He will be the guest of honour later that evening at the official Congress dinner to be held at the Iririki Island Resort. There he will present the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit to VFF President, Johnny Tinsley Lulu for his long and dedicated service to football in Vanuatu and the Oceania region.
Today marked the arrival of the OFC delegates in Port Vila. A friendly soccer match was scheduled in the afternoon between OFC and VFF officials.
The Congress proper on Saturday will see the election of a new OFC president and eight new members to a reformatted executive committee in line with the adoption of the new OFC Statutes, which were approved at the OFC extraordinary congress in Paris, France last May and came into force on 1 June 2004. Other agenda items include the receipt and adoption of the Audited Accounts for the OFC Inc. for 2002 and the admission of New Caledonia as the 12th full member of OFC.
At the completion of the Congress, the FIFA President will make an official visit to the FIFA Goal Project site and preside over the foundation ceremony. Mr Blatter will also visit a specially designated SOS village before departing.
The new OFC Executive Committee will meet in the afternoon where the election of office-bearers will take place. Under the new Statutes, apart from the President and FIFA Vice President, there will also be a senior vice president, three vice presidents and a treasurer.