Oceania Football Confederation

However, the rate of progress in Vanuatu and across the Pacific could be accelerated by future investment, with FIFA poised to spend the equivalent of nearly 5 billion Australian dollars on football development around the world.

Out of that, the Oceania Football Confederation can expect around $140 million, while Vanuatu and the other 10 member federations will receive some $35 million each.

The hope is that money will allow each country to find and develop more players like Ala, and Gianni Infantino says to go about the process in the right way.

It is also significant that Ala is continuing his school studies.

Um, and he's gonna...

I think he'll actually add the most to our OFC team this season and, and, you know, kind of what's fantastic about him is he's a kind of... he's a boy from here.

He's got a Pacific heritage, and he's gonna come into that team and dominate.

So, you know, we'll see, we'll see a bit of him in the A-League, but we'll definitely see him, um, this season dominating in the OFC as well.

And you've also got a player that can help him out as far as the experience goes, and that's Aaron Calvert too who you've added to the team.

He obviously knows what it takes, a championship.

We already have it and, and, and I absolutely love our fans for it, but I think we're still just at, right at the start of our journey, so there's plenty to do.

We've also got a, you know, women's development program to, to, to keep on growing and investing in.

you'll be honest you're not going to be around the bus you louis strata's dan hall jesse randles but one thing that gives me a hell of a lot of encouragement is we've kept leaders and we've kept winners within the side and we've also added to that with like the likes of lockheed bayliss who won the premieres last year with with jets aaron calver who's been around football for god knows how long ozzy football played in Asia, won the league before.

And then lads that we've promoted from the OFC side, like Ronan Wynne, Dan Norman, who granted the Pro League isn't the A-League, but there's still that winning mentality in there.

Luke Cassidy is part of the coaching staff now as well.

So they're boys that have been there and they've won games on a consistent basis.

But I think one of the interesting things for me, and being really passionate about the space as a Kiwi, and always looking at the next generation to come through, because we don't have the depth, are those youngsters.

And it feels like, with the appointment of Pedro, that there is now perhaps more of a balanced view around win now and develop.

And we're seeing Luka Vasilic, Van Fitzharris, Dan Norman even coming up from the OFC team.

Sean Cartwright has been brought across from the Melbourne City system into Auckland, and he's a young Kiwi as well.

Washington urged to produce evidence to support their corruption claims against the director of the Overseas Chinese Service Center in Fiji.

And could 2027 be the year that Tuvalu finally gains full membership of OFC?

We have done everything from our side that we fulfill all the criteria that OFC asks for us.

I think 100% we are in the best situation now that ever happened so far for

Tuvalu.

Very good morning to you wherever you may be listening or good evening or good afternoon if you happen to be listening to a recorded program online, which is quite possible.

It's been more than 20 years since a new nation was last admitted as a full member of the Oceania Football Confederation.

Tuvalu have been battling away for a lot longer than that for a place at the top table, but they are optimistic that 2027 could be their year with a crucial vote scheduled for March at the next OFC Congress.

and everything else South Melbourne have been doing to support themselves.

You mentioned those 50-plus games, and I think of the correlation between the fact that this is a team that's done the hard yards and played against a very diverse level of opponents across the OFC Pro League, state football in Victoria, the Australia Cup, playing, you know, a WA club like Fremantle.

I mean, that happened this season as well, you know, just...

Yeah, the level of which South Melbourne are conducting themselves at the moment, you know, this really big overarching conversation has to be had.

But I think of every club that exists at the moment in Australia, I don't think there is another club that comes close to having as good a claim to meeting requirements as South Melbourne do.

100%.

But there's also like a whole other myriad of conversation here from like a global administration of football perspective, because you think about their relationship with the OFC, being part of the pro league, being pioneers for the championship, uh, there is quite literally no other club on planet earth that can replicate that so it's not like if they come out of those competitions to gain professional licenses or do they do they are they are they given the leeway similar to auckland where you run two clubs simultaneously and like but that's not just a whole other thing where it's like only they could be in that predicament if we run the clock back 12 months when we were having this conversation about how awesome it is to have these brand new competitions right And we spoke about South Melbourne's impact on both of those competitions in particular and the unique headache that it's going to create.

I mean, again, it's only them that could be in that situation.

Mm.

So you've got Indonesia in AFC, in Asian Football Confederation, Papua New Guinea in OFC, Oceania.

So that means they don't really meet very often.

They've met on two occasions.