A signing ceremony involving OFC President David Chung and UEFA President Michel Platini took place on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan, where the FIFA Executive Committee has convened for an end-of-year meeting and which is currently playing host to the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup.
The agreement will serve to build upon the relationship between the two confederations and will complement an already existing MOU relating to UEFA’s support for OFC’s grassroots and social development projects, particularly the hugely-successful Just Play programme.
Under the terms of the new MOU, the confederations have agreed to exchange information, knowledge and good practice on matters of common interest while UEFA has pledged to provide assistance to OFC and its member associations in establishing and implementing projects and initiatives relating to: education, training, technical development and refereeing; the promotion of grassroots, youth and women’s football; the organisation of football competitions; marketing, legal and social responsibility matters; and the promotion of good governance principles in football.
President Chung is delighted to have seen OFC’s partnership with UEFA develop further and believes the results will only be beneficial for the growth of the world game in the Pacific.
“We are very grateful to enjoy such a relationship and acknowledge the support we have received so far from UEFA towards our social development programmes, which has been a key aspect in the great success of Just Play,” he says.
“UEFA, under the great leadership of Michel Platini and his Executive Committee, are committed to continuing this support and now we will also be able to work closely together in other areas as football continues to grow and develop throughout Oceania. The level of technical expertise UEFA are able to offer will prove invaluable as we look to raise standards further across all aspects of the game.”
The signing of the freshly-penned MOU arrives not long after UEFA pledged to continue its support for the Just Play programme last May at the OFC Extraordinary Congress in Budapest, Hungary.
The latest MOU will run over a four-year period until 2016 and the parties will meet on a yearly basis to evaluate the activities undertaken in accordance with the agreement.
An example of the type of exchanges that will take place over the coming years occurred this month when UEFA technical instructor Steve Rutter travelled to Auckland, New Zealand, to assist in the conducting of the first ever OFC B Licence coaching course at the OFC Academy from December 1 to 16.

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