TAHITI – Former Division Federale and OFC O-League representatives AS Temanava have been expelled from the 2007/08 Coupe de Polynesie following a decision executed by Federation
Tahitienne de Football (FTF) this week. AS Temanava defeated fellow Division Federale rivals Central Sport in the semi-final of this season’s cup competition but fielded an ineligible player
Steevy Chung Hue.
Central Sport – currently struggling to keep its Division Federale playoff hopes alive – responded to the shock news with a 2-1 victory over AS Pirae at Stade Pater last week and
now have an unexpected cup final to look forward too.
Although the decision was to expel Temanava was upheld, the decision will still come to the club as a bitter blow after it comfortably accounted for Central Sport 3-0 on
aggregate en route to the final.
The decision comes at just the right time for Central Sport, however, with AS Tefana – Tahiti’s representatives in this season’s French Cup – suffering its first defeat of the
season to AS Manu Ura coupled by the rescheduling of the Coupe de Polynesie Final dates because of the controversy surrounding the Steevy Chung Hue issue.
The 2007/08 Coupe de Polynesie was originally scheduled to be played over two legs on February 5th and February 9th on the island of Moorea.
A new date for the two-legged final has yet to be determined.