Oceania Football Center

Fiji: non-compliance with Fiji FA regulations prevent Lami from playing in 2020

As it was previously reported, Lami FC will not play Vodafone Senior League – the second-tier of Fijian football – this year. However the true reason behind it was not clear as there were no reports about this issue.

According to reliable sources, Lami could not play the tournament due to lack of compliance with Fiji Football Association (FFA) regulations as no club matches were being held in the district. There are some rumours that Lami is not affiliated to FFA anymore just like Levuka and Vatukoula, but there is no official confirmation about it.

Lami finished 2019 Vodafone Senior League in the second position. Some key players of that team joined Navua for 2020 Vodafone Premier League season like Matthew Charittar, Taniela Rakariva and Vinal Prasad.

The 2020 Vodafone Senior League will have eleven team split in two zones: one zone with five teams and another zone with six teams. You can see more information about the upcoming Senior League season by clicking here.

Fijian Shuiab Khan continues his development in New Zealand

Alongside very important player from New Zealand football scenario such as Emiliano Tade and Cameron Howieson, the young Fijian defender Shuiab Khan continues the development of his football in New Zealand; this time playing for Central United in the Lotto NRFL Premier. Shuiab was a regular starter in the superb campaign of Waitakere United in the previous season of the New Zealand top-tier league the ISPS Handa Premiership – Khan and Waitakere finished third in the season that was forced to finish before as scheduled due COVID-19 pandemics.

Now, the Fijian that already reperesented his country in one FIFA U20 World Cup back in 2015, is giving his best to keep Central United in the top of the table of the top-tier league of the Northern Region of New Zealand.

Khan in a friendly match of Central United – *Phototek*

Shuaib Khan is being a consistent choice by the coach Kris Bright in the starting eleven of Central in the season so far. In the last weekened, Khan helped the yellow side to beat 1-0 away from home Birkenhead United as now Central is placed second in the table before winning all their three matches in the league.

The good performances of the 24-year-old player should be attracting the interest of Fiji National Team head coach Flemming Serritslev and the defender can be close to receive their first call-up to the Bula Boys – something that he is certainly deserving.

Ambitious Suva set to sign important players as national league is close to resume

Suva had a good start in the current season of Vodafone Premier League in Fiji; but the team direction is aiming even higher as the Capital Boys are expecting to count on the services of four important players when the national league restarts this month. According to Suva’s president Ritesh Pratap, the club applied for transfers of four players from Ba and one from Labasa: the defender Laisenia Raura, the goalkeepers Beniamino Mateinaqara and Atunaisa Naucukidi and the midfielder Simione Nabenu from Ba; the Labasa’s attacking midfielder Ravnesh Singh is also set to reinforce Suva’s squad.

Both Laiseinia Raura and Ravnesh Singh already represented Suva in the past and might be close to rejoin the team. Recently, contacts in Fijian capital denied the interest on Beniamino Mateinaqara, but now chairman Ritesh Pratap comes to reveal Suva is applying for the Fiji national team goalkeeper transfer.

See More:
Updated Fijian Football players Database;
Roy Krishna ready to make history in Asia;
Lautoka set to lose Arami Manumanubai to Australian club.

Atunaisa Naucukidi is a promising goalkeeper that already represented Fiji at youth level – it will be interesting to see the comepetition Suva will bring to the goalkeeping position as the team already counts on the services of the also Fiji international Jovilisi Borisi.

Vodafone suspends sponsorship to Fiji FA

Football in Fiji suffers a major blow as the company Vodafone decided to suspend the sponsorship given to Fiji FA in a temporary basis. According to local sources “The Fiji Football Association will have to run at least three major soccer competitions without any sponsorship as Vodafone Fiji has suspended sponsorship until December this year and they will then review its decision. […] These competitions include the Vodafone Premier League, Vodafone Fiji FACT and Inkk Mobile BOG. Fiji FA’s CEO, Mohammed Yusuf has confirmed this adding they now will have to stand on their own feet and do as much as possible from their savings to keep football running. Vodafone Fiji had announced a $5.5 million sponsorship deal for five years with the Fiji FA last year“.

Also according FFA official “[…] companies can come forward and join Vodafone Fiji to sponsor their major competitions however they will not get into a deal with direct competitors of Vodafone Fiji”. Fiji FA is having many issues to reorganize their 2020 football season schedule and certainly this situation might get worse due the lack of funds cause of the absence of their major sponsor. Despite the case, it is expected the Fiji Football Premier League will continue to be called Vodafone Premier League for sponsorship reasons. The national league is set to restart after the COVID-19 break this weekend in the clash of Navua against Ba.

Star Mountain FC back to training in Papua New Guinea

Star Mountain FC is back to training in order to get ready for 2019-20 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League resumption. The first session after COVID-19 pandemics took place at Ela Beach on Monday.

The session was ran by current team’s head coach Selan Elizah and did not count on all players – “Half of the team have resumed training today,” he said. Assistant Coach Percy Mataio was also absent in the training due to personal reasons.

Elizah (first from left to right) with the players after the training session.

Despite being in the eighth position, Star Mountain was having a good recovery in the league by winning Hekari United by 2-1 in the tenth matchweek. This result was very important to leave the last position in the table but Elizah knows that it is important to keep working without big expectations – “The expectations are not that high but we are just forecast to rebuild the team back to we’re we left,” he said.

Kishan Sami’s Manukau United celebrate first win of the season in New Zealand

In the third matchweek of football in the Lotto NRFL Premier in New Zealand, the Fiji international Kishan Sami helped his new club Manukau United to clinch their first victory of the season against Waitakere City by 3-1. Manukau United has many other Fijians in their squad, but Sami is being currently the only player who is being regular to the first team – the 20-year-old player featured in all matches of Manukau in the top-tier league of North Island in New Zealand.

The former Ba player recently joined the club from South Auckland is rapidly addapting to the team. Before losing to Forrest Hill Milford and helding Bay Olympic to a 1-1 draw in the past weekend, Manukau United managed to beat Waitakere City thanks to three first half goals from the Japanese Nobuaki Mochizuki, the Nigerian Sani Issa and the former Hamilton Wanderers and Tasman United striker Jama Boss.

Manukau United XI – *Manukau United Medi*a

Kishan Sami played 90 minutes of the match – being subbed in the injury time. Manukau now sits in the middle of the table with four points collected from three matches played – this is the first experience of the young talented Fijian in overseas football. Manukau is going to take on Western Springs at home in the next weekend and Sami is expected to once again start for the team that is coached by the former New Zealand National Team head coach Kevin Fallon.

Rewa beat Navua in two friendly matches as both teams prepare for national league resumption

Football teams from Fiji are preparing for the restart of the Vodafone Premier League; as the transfer window goes, teams are not only focusing on signing new players to their squads but also to arrange warm-up matches heading for the first official games after COVID-19. The current national league first-placed side Rewa took on Navua in two friendly matches last Saturday and Sunday (04th and 05th Jul).

Friendly match between Navua and Rewa played on Saturday

Both matches took place at Uprising Ground; the first match on Saturday saw Rewa end up with a narrow 1-0 win thanks to a goal scored through penalty spot by the striker Misaele Draunibaka in the second half of the match. On Sunday the lack of goals of the previous match had an end, as Rewa could score four gooals to Navua: Patrick Joseph, Setareki Hughes and Misaele Draunibaka scored in the first half and Anish Khem completed the four goal lead for Rewa in the second half. The veteran Apisai Smith scored a brace to reduce the margin for Navua – Apisai recently signed for Navua.

Rewa will certainly battle for the first place in the season with a very strong squad – the club won four of their five matches so far in the competition. Navua has a long road to go as they sit in the bottom of the standings with only one point in the table. Watch a complete video recap about the Vodafone Premier League so far this season to be fully updated as the national league is close to restart!

Brian Kaltak: consistency leading Central United’s defense

Vanuatu National Team captain Brian Kaltak had one more very good match for Central United last weekend as he played the entire match helping his winter league’s club to beat Birkenhead United in a hard fought 1-0 victory away from Kiwitea Street.

The defender keeps his consistency in the first three matches of the season for Central United; Kaltak was influential in all matches so far, helping Central to beat all their opponents so far and keep at the top of the table.

Kaltak in a match against North Shore United – *Central United Media*

Kaltak led Central United defense to their first clean sheet of the season while the Argentinian star attacker Emiliano Tade scored the winning goal in the second half against Birkenhead. The Ni-Vanuatu central back, an Auckland City player, is playing alongside many of his teammates in Central United’s campaign at Lotto NRFL Premier League so far. Kaltak and players such as Cam Howieson and Emiliano Tade will return to Auckland City’s team when the OFC Champions League restart to help the Navy Blues to retain the regional glory – competition that is set to recommence this September.

Navneel Nand joins Nadi

Navneel Nand is the newest player of Nadi. The 22-year-old midfielder left Lautoka to join The Jetsetters in the current Fijian transfer window.

The young midfielder will add some talent and depth to Nadi’s midfield led by legendary Avinesh Suwamy. Nand was being an important player for Lautoka this season. He played six matches for the Baby Bluez this year and scored a goal in the 6-0 win against Nadi.

Nand (circled) with Lautoka’s squad – *Fiji FA*

Nadi’s next match will be against Labasa at Subrail Park on July 18. You can check the current league standings by clicking here.

Vanuatu: Invited players make PVFA Independence Cup more interesting

The 2020 PVFA Independence Cup kicked-off this weekend and Galaxy and Tafea won their matches. Besides the final scores, standings and goalscorers, there is one thing that must be highlighted: the amount of players that are not really part of the official squads.

Erakor Golden Star counted on Jason Thomas, Dondy Kileteir and Tasso Jeffery in their opening match against Ifira Black Bird. Kileteir and Jeffery are training with the team but they belong to Malampa Revivors while Jason Thomas is currently attached to Lautoka FC from Fiji. According to reliable sources, Thomas will not return to Lautoka but his International Transfer Certificate (ITC) is still with the Fijian club.

Two other clubs also counted on players that are currently attached to Fijian clubs: Tupuji Imere and Tafea. Tupuji counted on Lautoka’s forward Alex Saniel while Tafea counted on Ba’s midfielder Micah Tommy. Unlike Jason Thomas, Saniel and Tommy must return to Fiji soon to rejoin their respective clubs.

Micah Tommy playing for Tafea against Tupuji Imere.

Having these players help to increase the level of the tournament as the PVFA Independence Cup is a festive championship. While many countries still have their borders closed, it is very good to see football back in Vanuatu as players are recovering their fitness for 2019-20 Port Vila Premier League resumption.