Bougainville: a possible new member for OFC

Bougainville is an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea located 700km eastern from New Guinea island. People from Bougainville will begin voting in a referendum that will determine if their homeland will become an independent nation. The results are expected to be released on December.

Bougainville’s population is around 200.000 people, something close to Samoa and New Caledonia populations. With the possibility of independence, it also brings a question in football lover’s mind: Is Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) going to have a new member soon?

OFC currently has 11 full members and three associate members and Bougainville could become the 12th full member in the confederation.

There was only one team from Bougainville in the last Papua New Guinean National Soccer League. Chebu AROB won the Islands Conference and lost in national quarterfinals for Eastern Stars by 2-0. There was also a second team related to the region: Bougainville FC based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea’s capital. They ended the season in the fourth position of Southern Conference.