I am delighted to say that we have exceeded all expectations as we build toward the completion of the new Home of Football at Ngahue in East Auckland with the first stage of that development close to completion.
We saw many historic highlights on the field of play this year with Fiji qualifying for their first ever FIFA world event, the FIFA U-20 Men’s World Cup in New Zealand, and enjoyed the Junior Football Ferns progression to the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada.
Auckland City FC continue to shine as a beacon of what can be achieved within Oceania and on the world stage and we will all be following their progress with interest when they take on Moroccan club champions Moghreb Tetouan at the FIFA Club World Cup on December 10.
The staging of the inaugural OFC President’s Cup at The Trusts Arena last month saw many of our key objectives reached and included a wonderful Just Play Sports Day at the tournament venue in association with our partners UNICEF.
Our technical department ran over 70 courses across Oceania in 2014 in Beach Soccer, Futsal, Grassroots, women’s football and refereeing, to name but a few. The FIFA Development Office continued its good work in ensuring our infrastructure grows.
The Just Play Programme continues to extend the reach of its social responsibility messages throughout the Pacific with pleasing results. The numbers continue to grow as more and more children around Oceania engage in this award-winning programme.
In the spirit of the coming holiday season and looking forward to an exciting year of events ahead of us, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect and extend gratitude to the football family for its continued support. In particular I would like to acknowledge and thank FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter and FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke for their ongoing support of the Oceania region and its footballing community.
Within our own ranks, I wish to acknowledge our hardworking staff in all departments who continue to deliver to our chief stakeholders, our Member Associations, their expertise and commitment to growing the game.
On behalf of OFC, the Executive Committee and our Member Associations, I wish you all a happy holiday and a prosperous New Year.
Yours in football,
David Chung
OFC President
FIFA Vice-President
PNGFA President