Things about Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)
What is OFC
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental football federations in the Oceania region. This is the highest level organization representing the football of the countries of Oceania and at the same time the legal representative, expertise as well as the voice of football of the countries of this region. . OFC is managed by the FIFA World Football Federation and is the only organization responsible for operating and organizing major international tournaments in the Oceania region.
Football in Oceania in fact does not develop evenly, the teams of countries develop spontaneously and small, the whole continent has many developed and leading countries. in the world in terms of culture, economy, and society, but in the field of sports, this continent has almost no voice and imprint of its own. If you have to name the top-class teams in the Oceania region, the number of teams is really too few, only Australia and New Zealand are the two names mentioned. The remaining countries are almost unknown on the football map. The Australian football team, which is known as one of the strongest teams in Asia, is always a formidable opponent to rivals in the same region such as South Korea, Japan, and Malaysia, but if they are not important to European teams, the Australian team is still much worse.
Faced with the above situation, OFC was born as a way to reform Oceania football in a systematic way. OFC is the organization responsible for the implementation of large and small regional tournaments so that national teams have the opportunity to compete and gain experience. This is the basis for Oceania football to become stronger, more uniform and capable of competing with other continents. OFC serves as a major driving force behind the development of football in Oceania countries through investments in football infrastructure, technology, instruction and introduction. professional for regional federations.
To compete for the World Cup, the teams of the Oceania Football Confederation will face difficulties and the probability of having the opportunity to participate in the biggest football festival on the planet is extremely low. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar this time, OFC only received 0.5 places to attend. That is, the strongest team in the Oceania region will have to compete for tickets to the 2022 World Cup through a play-off round with a country in another continent.
History of OFC
The Oceania Football Confederation was founded in 1966 by the idea of three great men in world football, namely Sir Stanley Rous, former president of FIFA, Sid Guppy, President of the Football Association New Zealand and Jim Bayutti of the Australian Football League. However, as early as 1964, these three men tried to lobby before the Olympics to get FIFA recognition to create a specialized football organization for the Oceania region. The first countries in the world to be full members of OFC from the very beginning were Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. OFC at that time was founded with a single mission that was to call all countries to the same goal of developing football in Oceania.
Although it is only the smallest of the 6 regional federations, OFC is extremely active and always strives to turn Oceania football into the biggest football in the world. OFC focuses and cares about investing in the youth generation in Oceania countries through the construction of football training academies with a team of experienced experts and a strong infrastructure system. optimal infrastructure. Until now, OFC has remained active as an organization specializing in training and developing youth leagues for Oceania region to find football talents for this region.
Members
Currently, OFC has 13 member associations including 11 fulll members and 2 associate members. These two members are only associate members of OFC, not members of FIFA.
Chairperson
The first OFC president was Australian, Mr. William Walkley, he sat in the highest position of OFC before the consensus of all countries in the region, because at that time, Australia was the country. pioneered in the movement to establish OFC. Currently, the chairman of OFC is Mr. Lambert Maltock, he is the one who turned OFC into a prestigious organization for Oceania countries and sent the OFC image with a meaningful message, which is football development. stone aimed at combating social problems, eliminating evils, disappearing poverty and gender imbalance.
General secretary
OFC’s first general secretary was Mr. Ian McAndrew, who together with William Walkley became the head of the Oceania Football Confederation and was primarily responsible for leading a very young club with the goal of developing This federation has become one of the most prestigious and professional Football Federations in the world.
OFC Partnership
To realize its goals and mission, OFC has connected and cooperated with many different Federations and organizations, typically a partnership with the Australian Government to develop Pacific community football. OFC has partnered with UNICEF to make the sport as close as possible to children, thereby enabling them to develop both physically and mentally. For football, OFC has worked with the French Football Federation, FIFA, FFA, and UEFA to receive technical support in the development of regional football, in particular to develop the level and technique of football. women’s football, coaches, referees as well as upgrading infrastructure for this sport.
OFC Clubs
In terms of the ranking position of OFC-affiliated clubs, only Auckland City, Waitakere United and Hekari United are clubs with positive rankings, the rest of the clubs do not have outstanding achievements and rankings. turn on. In addition, it is possible to mention Sydney FC, South Melbourne or Adelaide City, although these clubs are not really strong in football, the potential for their development in the future is great.
OFC competitions
The majority of OFC tournaments are intra-Oceanic tournaments, mainly focusing on youth and open youth tournaments. Because OFC’s main purpose is to develop their young football talents and train them to become a strong squad in the future.
National teams
Men’s Competitions
- OFC Nations Cup
- OFC U-23 Championship
- OFC U-20 Championship
- OFC U-17 Championship
- OFC Futsal Championship
- OFC Youth Futsal Tournament
- OFC Beach Soccer Championship
Women’s Competitions
- OFC Women’s Nations Cup
- OFC U-20 Women’s Championship
- OFC U-17 Women’s Championship
Clubs
Men’s
- OFC Champions League
- OFC Futsal Champions League
Former tournaments
National teams
- OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament
- OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Clubs
- Oceania Cup Winners’ Cup
- OFC President’s Cup
OFC vision and mission
The Oceania Football Confederation is not only a strong football federation at the continental level but also a federation established with a profound human meaning because its vision is always towards the love of football. In the end, it is the love of football that will be able to solve and eliminate social problems in general and connect people more. OFC was established with the purpose of jointly developing football and dedicated to the common prosperity of world football.