Oceania Football Confederation

OFC and AFC sign important partnership

The two-year agreement between the two confederations was signed in Mexico City by AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and OFC president David Chung in the presence of AFC general Secretary Dato’ Windsor John and his OFC counterpart Tai Nicholas.

Chung says the partnership, which pledges cooperation on football development, education and competitions, allows the two confederations to exchange information, experience, knowledge and best-practice across these matters.

Lae Dwellers hope for win today against Auckland City

The PNG title holders showed glimpses of their potential in their 3-0 defeat to Amicale.

Dwellers will be banking on PNG internationals and former Hekari United strikers Raymond Gunemba and Nigel Dabinyaba to push forward with some quick counter attacks.

With Auckland City likely to dominate possession, the Dwellers’ counter-attacking prowess could be dangerous weapon against the defending champions.

Dwellers coach Peter Gunemba stated that his side will go into the match with a positive attitude.

Hekari up against AS Lossi in first match of Champions League

While Hekari are a seasoned team at the Champions League, their opponents from New Caledonia are relatively new in the OFC arena.

Captain of the Hekari side, David Muta said that if the players fully believe in themselves and play to the best of their ability, Hekari will win all their games and go on to make the finals.

The match kicks off at 3:35pm (1:35pm PNG time).

Meanwhile, the Lae City Dwellers will play their first match against Amicale FC from Vanuatu on Sunday at 3:35pm (1:35pm).

Question mark on David Beckham’s visit to PNG

As recently reported by www.bleacherreport.com,  David Beckham will mark 10 years working with UNICEF by playing seven football matches across seven continents to raise more money for the charity.

Bleacher Report has reported that Beckham is expected to appear in Uganda and Papua New Guinea as part of this charity campaign.

OFC head of media and communications Jacqueline Tran Van confirmed that at this point in time, OFC has not been approached about any exhibition matches involving Beckham in PNG.

Final decision on staging FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup to be announced

The announcement will be done during a joint press conference by the Oceania Football Confederation president David Chung and Sports Minister Justin Tkatchenko.

Tkatchenko said the National Football Stadium is being completed to world class standards that will meet FIFA requirements for hosting the Under-20 Women’s World Cup.

A FIFA delegation visited the venue recently and was impressed with the design and quality of the facility.

NZF targetted in new ineligibility protest: OFC

OFC general secretary Tai Nicholas has received a complaint from one of the confederations' member associations about the eligibility of players representing New Zealand teams at OFC tournaments over the past 12 months.

The Herald have uncovered 16 players who have represented the All Whites, New Zealand under-17s, New Zealand under-20s and New Zealand under-23s within the past year who also appear to fall short of Article 7 of Fifa's eligibility requirements.

NZ Football to mount Olympic appeal

New Zealand were kicked out of the under-23 tournament this month, after their beaten semi-final opponents Vanuatu successfully protested that South African-born defender Deklan Wynne was ineligible for the Oly-Whites.

The Oceania Football Confederation disciplinary committee last week provided a written explanation for the disqualification.

The reasons will be disputed by NZF following scrutiny from its lawyers.