Shop N Save Nadi soccer team at the Nadi International Airport with fans upon arrival from the Pacific Cup last year. Photo: WAISEA NASOKIA (Fiji Sun).
Pacific Cup Pool Draws on Saturday
The pool draws for the 2014 Pacific Cup will take place before the Nadi-Tailevu Naitasiri Courts Inter District Championship clash this Saturday at Prince Charles Park.
The four local teams to participate in the 2014 Pacific Cup in Sydney, Australia have been confirmed.
Fiji Football Association (Fiji FA) president Rajesh Patel says Rewa, Ba, Suva and Nadi will represent the national football body.
The Pacific Cup which has become an annual event was made possible through a partnership between NZ Fiji FA Inc. and Australia Fiji FA.
Patel said that all costs for the four local sides will be accommodated by the organisers.
Nadi is the defending champion while Rewa will make their first appearance in the event which is for the first time being held in Australia.
The four sides were selected based on their performance in the 2014 season.
The Pacific Cup will be played from November 19–23 at the Sydney United Football Stadium.
Patel also confirmed that after a consultation with Australia Fiji FA, Bob Nair has been appointed as a liaison officer for Fiji FA in Australia.
The 2014 Courts IDC starts this weekend as four crucial matches have been scheduled.
October 4, 2014
Subrail Park, Labasa
2pm Labasa v Suva
Prince Charles Park, Nadi
4pm Rewa v Nadroga
Pacific Cup Pool Draws
6pm Nadi v Tailevu Naitasiri
October 5, 2014
Churchill Park, Lautoka
3pm Lautoka v Ba
ENDS
League season to start in November
The new National Football League season is scheduled to kick off in November.
This was announced by the Fiji Football Association (Fiji FA) president Rajesh Patel last Sunday at their council meeting.
Patel assured the district associations present at the Fiji FA conference hall that the new league season which will once again be sponsored by the CJ Patel Group will commence as scheduled.
“The new league season will kick off in November and we will look to complete it by March 2015,” Patel said.
“The 2015 season will be a very busy one for Fiji FA as various national teams are participating in international competitions and we also have the Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea along with the FIFA U20 World Cup. The Fiji FA board felt that the league season must be completed on time in order to accommodate the national teams.”
At the council meeting last Sunday various district associations also raised concerns on the low attendance in the league games along with other issues.
Patel said that the issues will further be discussed at the National League board meeting early next month.
Suva was crowned the 2014 Fiji Sun/Skipper Tuna National Football League champion. The Ba side which had held the title since 2010 finished second.
The 2014 league presentation will coincide with the 2015 season launch.
Eight teams will feature in the Super Premier division and the outcome of the local sides in the 2015 OFC Champions League will decide the number of places available for the 2016 event.
ENDS
Coaching duo to attend World Cup Conference
A two-member Fiji Football Association (Fiji FA) delegation will travel to Malaysia late next month to attend the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) conference.
The three-day event which will focus on the technical and tactical analysis of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ will be held from October 29–31, 2014 as acting Fiji FA technical director Ravinesh Kumar and national coach Juan Carlos Buzzetti have been nominated by Fiji FA to attend.
A report on FIFA.COM states that the tactical flexibility displayed by teams, the fast-paced and attacking football seen after a long season, the impact made by individual attacking players and the successful implementation of both goal-line technology (GLT) and vanishing spray are among the key conclusions of FIFA’s technical experts.
It further states that in addition to the presentation of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ report produced by the FIFA TSG, at each event the delegations will look at the coaching and football development trends following FIFA’s flagship event, as well as medical and refereeing matters. A special session will also focus on FIFA World Cup™ champions Germany.
“These conferences are essential platforms that enable us to share the main technical findings from the FIFA World Cup with the confederations and member associations, thus becoming a concrete educational tool to promote football development around the world,” says FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke.
With the preparation for the 2015 FIFA Under-20 World Cup underway the conference is set to be useful one for the Fiji FA delegation.
Below are the schedules of the conference.
– UEFA, Saint Petersburg, 16-17 September 2014
– CAF, Cairo, 30 September – 1 October 2014
– AFC/OFC, Kuala Lumpur, 29-31 October 2014
ENDS
Fiji FA launches development Centers
Fiji FA in conjunction with Oceania Football Confederation established six development centres last Saturday around the country.
These centres are located in all the three divisions of the country that is two in the West, two in South and two in the North. These centres will target to train kids from 10-12 year olds of both the genders.
The centres will run on Saturdays initially and continue throughout the year.
The structure below indicates the districts where these centres are established. Early next year then 12 more centres will be established in other parts of the country. Following this will be the competition for under 13’s next year.