OFC staff will be working from home during the lockdown in New Zealand due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Our organisation is dynamic and we are thankful that we have the skills and resources to continue to work towards the growth and development of football in Oceania.

Check out the information below, including an update from OFC General Secretary Franck Castillo, about what our various departments will be working on during the coming weeks.

OFC is committed to the health and safety of people throughout the Pacific, so please stay home and stay safe as we help to stop the spread of this virus.

Franck Castillo – General Secretary

“We care about our 11 Member Associations and have been proactive by providing information to them about the risk of COVID-19.

On March 9, we put in a travel ban for our staff and cancelled or postponed all activities including our competitions to protect the Pacific Islands from the potential spread of coronavirus.

We have prepared our administration to work from home and have developed digital tools to assist with this.

For health and safety, to make sure that our staff were protected, we developed a crisis management plan with a continuity plan.

We were ready to work from home when the government recommended it. Now, we are fully operational and in touch with our Member Associations to assist them with the situation, change their operational plan and to get ready for when things go back to normal.

I am personally in touch with all OFC staff and I admire their dedication and professionalism during this difficult time.”

Competitions

The competitions department will be busy making contingency plans so when it is considered safe to play again, we can reschedule the postponed OFC competitions as soon as possible.

They are continuing to plan for the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar draw in May/June and the qualifying matches, which are scheduled to be played from August 31 to September 8.

Commercial

The commercial department will be working on the 2020/21 marketing and digital strategy. They will focus on marketing campaigns that will better engage our existing football fans and extend this to sports fans and potential new followers of OFC.

Our number one goal is to build the love for football across Oceania through our digital platforms.

Media

The OFC media team will spend the lockdown working on news stories and content looking back on some historical moments in the history of OFC, while casting an eye to the future of some aspects of the game. The team will be working on written stories and videos, so keep an eye on the website and our social media channels for more.

Refereeing

The OFC referee department will be preparing educational resources for the Referee Accreditation Process to ensure consistency in the education and training of match officials in the Pacific.

They will use Facebook forums to discuss the 2019/20 Laws of the Game changes to ensure consistency in the match officials’ application and interpretation when making a decision.

The referees will use incidents from the recent OFC Champions League group stage to discuss:

  • Concepts
  • Laws
  • Position/Movement
  • Communication/Teamwork
  • Decisions

Women’s Football

Women’s Football Development Officer Emma Evans is working on a capacity building strategy that will help continue the expansion of women’s football in the Pacific.

Football Development

Our football development team will be working on ensuring some of their resources can be made interactive and completed online.

They are also preparing for the future rollout of a new cycle of development programmes including football development centres, the new OFC Skills Challenge, goalkeeping schools, and a range of tailored programmes to support the growing demand for futsal and beach soccer at youth level.

Education and High Performance

The team will be rescheduling upcoming coaching courses and restructuring the content for the OFC A and B license courses. Planning will continue for the national academy for Vanuatu.

They are also working towards the creation of an expert coaching panel that will provide structure and guidelines for technical study groups in the Pacific.

Social Responsibility

Our social responsibility team will focus on a development phase during the lockdown, looking specifically at key priority areas for OFC and our Member Associations, including:

  • Strategic planning
  • Mentorship and capacity building
  • Curriculum and resource development
  • Financial management
  • Media and communications

OFC is looking forward to seeing football start again and we will be ready to hit the ground running but, in the meantime, stay home and stay safe.

Ends