Fiji FA unveils six-team professional league plan to extend pathway beyond Bula FC

Fiji Football Association has revealed plans for a new six-team professional franchise league that could begin in late 2027, in what would represent one of the most significant changes to the structure of domestic football in the country. The proposed competition would introduce privately owned franchises, professional coaching structures and televised matches, creating a new professional level alongside Fiji’s traditional district football system.

Fiji FA chief executive Mohammed Yusuf said the association intends to launch the competition after the 2027 Inter District Championship. Under the current proposal, six franchises would be distributed geographically across the country, with three representing the Western Division, two based in the South and one in the North. Interested groups would be required to bid for a Fiji FA licence to operate one of the franchises.

The model would be considerably different from the structure that has historically shaped senior football in Fiji. The franchises are expected to be privately owned, while their operators would be responsible for appointing professional coaches, establishing their own team structures and developing merchandising operations. Yusuf also said matches would be fully televised, adding a commercial and media dimension that remains limited in the existing domestic game.

According to the preliminary plan, the professional competition would run from the conclusion of the IDC until around Christmas or New Year, with matches scheduled for Wednesdays and weekends. The six teams would play against each other before the two leading sides advance to a final to decide the champion. The proposal is not yet formally approved, with Fiji FA expected to table it before its Council in November 2026 for discussion and approval.

One of the most important aspects of the project is its connection with Bula FC. Fiji entered the professional era at regional level in 2026 through Bula FC, the country’s first professional football club and Fiji’s representative in the inaugural OFC Pro League. That development created full-time opportunities for a selected group of leading Fijian players, but it also highlighted the considerable gap between those involved in the professional franchise and players continuing in the traditional domestic system.

Yusuf specifically identified that gap when discussing the purpose of the proposed league. He said players leaving Bula FC would be able to continue playing professionally in Fiji rather than immediately returning to the country’s amateur environment.

“Boys coming out of Bula FC can have continuity to play in the local professional league in a highly competitive manner,” Yusuf said.

That point gives the project significance beyond the creation of six new teams. Bula FC can accommodate only a limited number of footballers at any given time, while players can move in and out of its squad according to form, recruitment and the requirements of the OFC Pro League. A domestic professional competition would potentially provide another destination for those players while also widening the number of Fijians able to make football a more substantial part of their working lives.

The announcement also comes at a particularly relevant moment for the domestic game. Nasinu striker Bruce Hughes recently spoke publicly about the financial reality faced by footballers in Fiji, stating that “football is not a career in Fiji” because of the level of compensation received by players. Hughes, despite being one of the productive forwards in the Fiji Premier League this season and a former Battle of the Giants final match-winner, has continued to combine football with work away from the game. His comments illustrated a reality familiar to many leading players in the country: competing at Fiji’s highest domestic level does not necessarily provide the income required to live exclusively as a footballer.

Fiji’s traditional district system remains one of the strongest elements of the country’s football culture, particularly through competitions such as the Premier League, Battle of the Giants, Fiji FACT and Inter District Championship. The proposed professional league, however, would introduce a different model based on franchises, private investment and professional employment rather than the district associations that have historically dominated the domestic game.

It would also represent another stage in a rapid period of structural change for Fijian football. The establishment of Bula FC already placed Fiji inside the OFC Pro League and created the country’s first professional club environment. The proposed six-team competition would take that process much further by attempting to establish professional football within Fiji itself rather than concentrating it in a single team competing at regional level.

There are still major questions to be answered before that becomes reality. The identities and exact locations of the franchises, ownership requirements, financial regulations, player contracts and the relationship between professional teams and existing districts have yet to be detailed publicly. Much will also depend on whether sufficient private investment can be attracted to sustain six professional organisations rather than simply launch them.

For now, the November Fiji FA Council meeting represents the next major step. If approved and successfully implemented, the project could substantially change the pathway available to Fijian footballers: from district football, through a domestic professional competition and potentially into Bula FC and the wider OFC Pro League.

For a country where some of its leading domestic players still have to balance football with another profession, the significance of that transition could extend well beyond the creation of six new teams.