26 Feb 2007

South Pacific football to get 12 million US dollar boost over 12 years

7:35 am on 26 February 2007

Oceania football is to get a 12 million US dollar boost over a 12 year period from this year until 2018.

The programme called "OFC vision" is the brainchild of OFC President and FIFA vice president Reynald Temarii and is aimed at building the Pacific community by using football as a tool to develop nations.

He says the number of youths in the South Pacific aged 0-20 will increase from 5.5 million to 6.8 million by 2018 and he believes football can help address many of the key social issues facing these youngsters in the coming years.

The 12 year development plan will be broken into three four year phases.

The first four year phase - entitled "Win in Oceania With Oceania" - will focus on 15 key areas of football administration and technical development which will include grassroots football, World Cup preparation camps, and women's Football.