The Fiji Football side arrived in Auckland this morning motivated by the banning of its star goalie Simione Tamanisau who has been left out of the
all important World Cup qualifier against the All Whites on Saturday.
Tamanisau was refused a visa into New Zealand because his future father in law is a non-commissioned officer with the Fiji Military Forces.
Fiji Football Association is said it has written to FIFA stating that it will play this weekend’s OFC Nations Cup/2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Qualifier against the All Whites under
protest.
FA President, Dr Sahu Khan says depending on the result and the importance of this match, he will take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for sport in Switzerland.
However, despite the delay in flights and setbacks in their preparation, the side is determined to do much better, says coach, Carlos
Buzzetti.
“What can we do but train harder. It has discouraged us to leave without someone we have been training with for the past few weeks but we know that some things are beyond our control,”
“We had wanted to go in earlier and have a chance to acclimatize as well as train with our overseas-based players but the little time we have now is just not enough-but we have to make do.
“It is sad that politics have to come in and ruin the dedication and sacrifice of good sports people,” Buzzetti added.
Buzzetti added the side was raring to play and prove their worth to the NZ government.
“We beat a NZ team earlier this year and that in itself is a big motivation boost for us. Any team can be beaten. They play 11 players and have weaknesses like everyone else.”
Story courtesy of Fiji FA Media and Fiji Live.com