Oceania Football

The Bula Boys now face New Zealand in Saturday night's final after the Oly Whites thrashed Vanuatu 8-0 in the first semi-final at Mt Smart Stadium.

Captain Etonia Dogalau was the hero for the Fijians scoring twice.

Substitute Brendan McMullen scored Fiji's third at the end.

The result is perhaps a small surprise as the Solomon Islanders were in great form coming into the match, beating Vanuatu and Samoa 3-0 and Tonga 5-1 in their group matches.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in Bahrain during the Asian body's annual congress.

Oceania President Lambert Maltock said the agreement is hugely significant and beneficial for football in the Pacific. 

"We are pleased that the implementation of this agreement means a focus on high level competitions between representative teams from both confederations," Maltock said.

A joint statement said the MoU would result in "high-level competition" for men's and women's teams and the exchanging of knowledge, experience and resources.

The Oceania Football Confederation confirmed all matches will take place in Qatar from 14 to 30 March 2022.

The OFC qualifiers will be played in a mini-tournament format featuring eight teams, consisting of a round-robin group stage, semi-finals and the final.

The regional events were originally scheduled to take place last year but were delayed because of Covid-19.

The tournaments were intended as qualifiers for the Men's Under 17 and Under 20 World Cups but FIFA announced last month that both events had been cancelled.

OFC General Secretary, Franck Castillo, said it was vital to give our region's youth footballers the opportunity to play in these events.

OFC's 11 Member Associations will receive $NZ700,000 across two years - an increase of $NZ150,000 each year - while associate members Tuvalu and Kiribati will each receive $NZ60,000.

Of the $NZ350,000 annual grant, $NZ100,000 will be dedicated to national team costs with at least 25 per cent to be invested into the women's squad.

A further $NZ100,000 will be assigned to governance and management with the remaining $NZ150,000 to be spent on football development, with at least 25 per cent allocated to women's football.

The OFC Executive Committee approved a number of changes last week in response to the ongoing COVID-19-19 pandemic, that will impact the OFC Champions League, various youth tournaments and the road to Qatar 2022.

General Secretary Franck Castillo said these postponements and cancellations were the only option, given the ongoing challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We look forward to international football returning in our region when it is logistically possible," he said.

The signing ceremony was held in Vanuatu, with MSG Secretariat Acting Director General George Hoa'au and OFC President Lambert Maltock signing off on plans to establish a mutually cooperative relationship between the two organisations.

"I started this discussion even before I became President of the OFC but I was determined to see it come to fruition during my four-year term," Maltock said.

NZF Chief Executive Pragnell told Reuters the timing was right to launch a bid to host the World Cup, which has been expanded to 32 teams from 24 after the 2019 tournament in France drew massive television audiences and commercial interest.

The joint bid received the highest rating in a FIFA evaluation report earlier this month and was given another boost on Monday when Japan withdrew from contention, leaving Colombia as the only rival bidder.

The men's OFC Under 19 Championship, that was scheduled to be played in Samoa in July, will not be held before October but no later than January 2021.

The top two teams from this tournament will represent Oceania at the 2021 FIFA Under 20 World Cup in Indonesia.

The OFC Champions League quarter-finals, which were originally set for April, have now been postponed until September at the earliest.

The Champions League winner will represent OFC at the FIFA Club World Cup scheduled to be played in Qatar in December.

The OFC Executive Committee unanimously approved funding to it's 11 Member Associations to help reduce the impact of Covid-19, with each Association eligible to apply for up to NZ$50,000.

The grant, which is part of the OFC FIFA FORWARD funding, had been designed to cover four key areas, including food and hygiene packets, loss of income, medical allowances and self-isolation costs.

The Solidarity Fund would also provide assistance to those countries that were directly affected by the category five Cyclone Harold during the pandemic.