Oceania Football Center

OFC Champions League: new schedule proposal under discussion

OFC Champions League is the biggest club competition in Oceania. The current edition of the continental tournament was stopped due to COVID-19 pandemics and the upcoming matches are not scheduled yet. However, Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) organized an on-line meeting with clubs and federations on Wednesday to discuss about this issue.

The 2020 OFC Champions League was initially scheduled to finish in May but everything has changed due to COVID-19 pandemics. Now the Confederation, federations and clubs are discussing the best way to resume the tournament.

OFC set some minimum conditions to resume the tournament like: borders open, commercial flights operating, no entry restrictions, no limit to gathering of people for sporting events and availability to train without restrictions. According to OFC, any variation of these minimum conditions will create unfair situations to affected clubs.

At the present moment there is a proposal to play the whole knockout stage in a “mini-tournament” in September. The eight teams qualified to quarter-finals would have two months to get ready for the next challenge in the continental tournament. Seven of eight teams support this idea.

The “mini-tournament” might be the best way to finish 2020 OFC Champions League – *OFC Media*

The “mini-tournament” would be played in only one location from 19 to 26 September with the same format: Winners of each Group Stage play a Runner up in a Quarter Final. Despite being accepted by most teams, it still depends on these minimum conditions that were mentioned above.

If travel restrictions for all teams continue until July 19, the final decision about playing or not 2020 OFC Champions League would be postponed to August 24. If the current OFC Champions League edition cannot be played due to the current situation impacted by COVID-19, and if the FIFA Club World Cup 2020 still goes ahead, OFC will be required to nominate a representative anyway.

An Executive Committee meeting is scheduled to take place on July 24 to keep discussing about the current issues. Oceania Football Center team is keeping up with this situation in order to bring the most accurate information to our followers.

Vanuatu: Lucien Hinge joins Yatel FC

Lucien Hinge is the newest player of Yatel FC from Vanuatu. The 28-year-old defender joined the team and he is already eligible to play. His first appearance with Yatel must be today against Mauwia at Korman Stadium in the first matchweek of 2020 PVFA Independence Cup.

Hinge was playing for Tafea FC before joining his new club. The transfer was approved by Port Vila Football Association (PVFA) and was confirmed by Yatel’s president John Stephens Tougon.

Lucien Hinge left Tafea and joined Yatel. *Tafea FC Media*

The former Tafea FC player has already represented Vanuatu National Team in three matches. His last appearance was in a 2-1 win against New Caledonia in 2017 Pacific Mini Games.

Melanesian Cup one step closer to be revived in Oceania

🇫🇷 Français

Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) president Lambert Maltock confirmed that an agreement between OFC and Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) to relaunch the traditional Melanesian Cup.

According to Maltock, the tournament name will be changed to “MSG Prime Ministers’ Cup” in order to avoid discrimination of ethnicity and also to allow other OFC members to take part of the tournament. Despite the latest news, it is not known when the next edition will be contested.

Maltock (left) with MSG Secretariat members – *Malampa FA Media*

Melanesian Cup was a very traditional tournament that was played for seven times from 1988 to 2000. It used to be contested by five Melanesian nations: Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Fiji is the most successful country in the competition’s history as they won five out of seven tournaments.

Solomon Islands: 2020 Telekom S-League proposed to begin on August 8

Good news for football fans from Solomon Islands: the 2020 Telekom S-League season has been proposed to start on Saturday 8th August 2020 at Lawson Tama Stadium in Honiara – the capital of the country.

According to reliable sources, the nine teams that played the past season are confirmed in a meeting with organising board for next season: Solomon Warriors, Henderson Eels, FC Isabel United, Kossa FC, FC Guadalcanal, Real Kakamora Malaita Kingz, Laugu United and Marist.

Solomon Warriors are the title holders – SIFF Media

According to Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF), the application for new franchises is still open as the Telekom S-League Board and SIFF want to increase the number of teams in the league to ten.

Solomon Warriors are the current league champions. You can check the last sesason’s standings by clicking here.

David Browne debuts in top-tier league in Finland

The 2020 Veikkausliiga has finally started. The top-tier football league from Finland kicked-off on Wednesday with six matches being played in the opening day.

HJK faced FC Lathi at Lahti Stadium and they won by 4-0. Papua New Guinean forward David Browne came from the bench in the 79th minute to replace Lucas Lingman who scored HJK’s second goal in the first half. Rasmus Schüller and Roope Riski scored once each while the remaining goal was an own goal scored by Lathi’s player Teemu Jantti.

David Browne came from the bench in the second half

It was Browne’s first match in the Veikkausliiga. However he has already played seven matches and scored one goal in the Finnish Cup that started in January.

Vanuatu: PVFA Independence Cup begins today

After facing some problems with Tropical Cyclone Harold and COVID-19 pandemics, the wait for official football is over in Vanuatu after some months. The PVFA Premier League Independence Cup is set to begin today when Galaxy FC and Sia-Raga will face each other at Port Vila Stadium.

Two other “Independence Cups” will also take place in Port Vila: First & Second Division Cup and Women’s Cup.

The Independence Cups are very traditional in Vanuatu and many of these cups are held around the country in July to celebrate Vanuatu’s Independence Day on July 30. You can check the PVFA Premier League Independence Cup draw by clicking here.

Hekari United players protest against domestic violence in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea recently face a revolting case of domestic violence as international rugby player and boxer Debbie Kaore has been beaten with a clothes iron by her then partner. The agression was recorded and the video was released by Kaore to highlight domestic violence in the country.

Since then, many authorities and famous people from Papua New Guinea stood by Debbie’s side and started a huge campaign against domestic violence. Lae City players were the first footballers to protest against domestic violence in Papua New Guinea and players from other clubs did the same after them.

Hekari United players also expressed their repudiation of violence. Led by team’s captain David Muta they expressed their positioning – “Speak out and stand out. Silence protect violence,” said Muta on social media.

Sportsmen can have a big impact in society and it is very important to see them having a positioning against something that can not be acceptable nowadays. Oceania Football Center stands with them against violence.

Fiji: closed doors for indiscipline in National Team

It seems that a new era is about to begin in Fiji National Team. Fiji Football Association chief executive officer Mohammed Yusuf and current National Team head coach Flemming Serritslev are not going to tolerate indiscipline.

Yusuf revealed that there will be no second chance as they have been constantly reminding players to follow the rules. Some Fijian players are really known for some cases of indiscipline like missing National Team camps or having extra-field problems – “We have talked to the new national coach and those who have no desire to represent Fiji will not be allowed to play, it is simple. We can’t allow undisciplined players to hinder development and progress,” said Yusuf.

Indiscipline will not be tolerated by Fiji FA and National Team’s head coach Flemming Serritslev

One of the players mentioned by Yusuf is Nadi’s midfielder William Valentine. He was also involved in an criminal case after assaulting his girlfriend with a scissor in last November.

That is a huge step for Fijian football. Undisciplined players must be punished and left out of the sport if they really want to march towards professionalism in the country.

Georges Gope-Fenepej back to training in France

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After being relegated from Ligue 2 in 2019-20 season, Le Mans FC is back to training in France waiting for something better in the upcoming season.

The first training session took place on this Tuesday at La Pincenardière in order to get ready for 2020-21 Championnat National – the third-tier of French football. New Caledonia international Georges Gope-Fenepej was training with the squad after facing some injuries last season.

Gope-Fenepej is going to play his third season with Le Mans. He joined the club in 2018 and scored five goals in 27 matches in two seasons.

Luganville: first football match after COVID-19 and TC Harold

Vanuatu was a special case during the COVID-19 pandemic – the country was hit by Harold, a tropical cyclone, during the lockdown forced by COVID-19. Football and all other activities were stopped due the pandemic, but also suffered a major blow from the natural disaster.

Luganville’s football venues were heavily affected – the second most important city of Vanuatu was hit very hard by TC Harold, the city that most suffered with the cyclone. After so many issues, football community can celebrate the return of the beautiful game to Luganville. The local powerhouse Malampa Revivors is preparing for the knock-out stage of 2020 OFC Champions League; in a friendly match they played the traditional Vaum last Saturday (27th Jun).

The first goal of the match was an own goal scored by Malampa Revivors’ captain Claude Aru. Andre Batick equalized in the 21st minute but Vaum United took the lead again before the half-time with goals scored by Ken Gideon and John Damelip. Andre Batick scored another goal in the first half but Vaum United took the 3-2 lead to the second half.

A imagem pode conter: uma ou mais pessoas, pessoas praticando esportes e atividades ao ar livre — Vaum vs Malampa Revivors in Luganville – *Batick Bong Shem*

Vaum’s lead was blown in the first minute of the second half when Edwin Bai found the net for Malampa Revivors. The last goal of the match was scored by Jean-Claude Batick in the 80th minute to give the 4-3 lead to Malampa. You can check the match sheet by clicking here.

The first match after COVID-19 and TC Harold had lots of goals for the joy of the fans; Malampa Revivors emerged victorious with a 4-3 win over Vaum. Competitive football is expected to return to action this July – friendly matches were also played in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila while the local league does not restart.