The only national competition being proposed for 2013 is the Telekom S-League, meaning neither the Solomon Cup nor the National Futsal League will go ahead.
SIFF has taken a bare bones approach as it brings its activities in line with FIFA’s minimum requirement of a national football league. The Telekom S-League will run from April to August with the action set to start on April 6.
Interim SIFF CEO Neil Poloso says that while the federation’s intentions are to have as many football events per year as possible, 2013 is being used to review and plan out what can be organised in line with existing resources.
“It is not optimal but we want to take the time to normalise our finances. We will be using 2013 as a watershed year for developing well budgeted and well planned event calendars in the future which complement our overall development approach and our budget,” Poloso explains.
“This is something that must be done in order for SIFF to continue to provide a reasonable calendar of activities in the years ahead. We have to make sacrifices and this year a number of events had to be dropped.”
There is good news, however, for youth football as SIFF plans to introduce a league-based competition scheduled for September.
The full details of the competition are yet to be finalised but it is expected that it will take the shape of a single round league involving the U-19 age group. It will be played locally, in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara, under the current national league structure.
Internationally, the same austerity template is being applied with SIFF confirming attendances to only three of the five regional events scheduled for 2013. SIFF has only confirmed participation in the OFC Beach Soccer Championship and the OFC Futsal Championship while withdrawing from both the OFC U-17 and U-20 championships.
The third international event SIFF will take part in is Stage 3 of the Oceania qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which began in 2012 and conclude in March.
The Solomon Warriors will still compete in the OFC Champions League and preparations for this event are already underway. Their participation in the OFC Champions League is independent of SIFF’s international commitments since the club is fully responsible for all costs involved.
The Warriors will play six matches, including three at home, in the fight to represent Oceania at the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco.
Meanwhile, the SIFF competitions department is making a submission for the Solomon Cup to be included in the 2014 calendar of events due to its omission from the annual event line up for the last four years.
The Solomon Cup is considered an important historical event and a player selection avenue for national teams. It also provides one of the rare opportunities for provincial-based players to be marketed to national league clubs.
For more on Solomon Islands football go to www.siff.com.sb

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