Following on from the OFC Executive Committee Meeting on April 6 and the subsequent meeting of the same members at the OFC Congress in Mauritius on May 30, it has been resolved that the format shall consist of a Preliminary stage and a Finals stage.
It has also been decided that the Finals stage shall be played in one country in a tournament format – a significant change from recent seasons in which a home-and-away system has been in place.
The Preliminary stage will likewise be played in one country in a tournament format and will consist of the club champions of American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga. The teams will play each other in a round robin league system with the winner advancing to the Finals stage.
The Preliminary tournament is foreseen to take place in Pago Pago, American Samoa during September 2013.
This stage is set to be a historic occasion as it will mark the first time a club from either of these four OFC member associations has been granted direct access into the Champions League proper.
The Finals stage will be just as ground-breaking with a record 12 teams taking part. As per previous seasons, the seven club champions of Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu all qualify but will be joined this time by sides finishing runners-up in the national leagues of four of these nations.
The identity of these four countries has been determined by the performance of the respective clubs in the recently-concluded 2013 OFC Champions League. As New Zealand teams finished first and second in the 2013 tournament, the countries of the clubs ranked second to fifth in the overall standings are entitled to a second club team in 2014.
Therefore New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu and Tahiti will enter the runner-up club of their national league in the 2014 OFC Champions League.
In summary, the countries competing in the Finals stage of the 2014 OFC Champions League and their number of representatives will be as follows: New Zealand (two teams), Fiji (two), Vanuatu (two), Tahiti (two), New Caledonia (one team), Papua New Guinea (one), Solomon Islands (one), plus the winner of the Preliminary stage.
The teams will compete in three groups of four teams (a national association will not have two representatives in the same pool) with the teams finishing first in each group and the best-placed runner-up qualifying for the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals will compete in the final for the right to represent Oceania at the prestigious FIFA Club World Cup.
The Finals tournament is foreseen to take place in Fiji during April 2014.
New Zealand’s Auckland City are the current holders of the OFC Champions League title and will travel to Morocco in December to take part in the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup.