00:05To secure the future of the Oceania Football Confederation and its 11 members,
00:11FIFA has committed to playing a hands-on role in the region.
00:16I'm very happy to be in New Caledonia today.
00:19It's a magnificent, beautiful country, but also one of football.
00:25It's a country which has produced world champions before, like Christian Carambeau, football champions.
00:33In 2023, FIFA president Gianni Infantino inaugurated a headquarters for the New Caledonian Football Association,
00:43constructed with support from the FIFA Forward Development Programme.
00:50Infantino also spent time in nearby Vanuatu and the Cook Islands,
00:55committing to infrastructure development and celebrating the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand
01:03as a tournament for the whole of the Oceania region.
01:06We will invest together, we will work together.
01:09We need the land, as we were discussing with the minister, and we will build,
01:14because we want to give opportunities and chances to all children, all girls and all boys in Vanuatu
01:21to have an opportunity to be able to shine.
01:25We see there is now a Women's World Cup going on in New Zealand and Australia.
01:30This is the World Cup of the whole of Oceania, of the whole of the Pacific,
01:34and that's why we are here, we are the official ball of that Women's World Cup,
01:41because it has to be an inspiration for all women, but also for all men, for all girls, for all
01:45boys.
01:47That football is a possibility, is a way, not just for the players, but for everything that is around.
01:54In both New Caledonia and Vanuatu, Infantino promoted the launch of the region's OFC Professional League,
02:02a vital component in the creation of a football economy.
02:08We also want to bring professional football in the Pacific, a Pacific league,
02:14of which one club has to be in Vanuatu,
02:17which gives, again, opportunities for the talented children of this country to shine,
02:24and then maybe, of course, if they are good enough and become even better to be transferred
02:29to some of the top clubs in Europe and all people.
02:34When I was elected,
02:38and one of the most important projects that I wanted to do during my Monday
02:44is to create this professional league in Oceania,
02:48I think this is one of the most needed platform of competition that we need
02:52to prepare to be competitive in the international level.
02:58So this is where I think Oceania needs that kind of platform.
03:02In 2019, the Oceania Football Confederation formed a task force
03:07to determine the viability of a professional football league for the Oceania region.
03:12The first attempt in 2021 was aborted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
03:18Then a second attempt was delayed to 2026.
03:22You know, the potential in Oceania is huge,
03:25but it's very little on top,
03:28because we had no this level of competition in Oceania.
03:35This is why there is not much attention from the rest of the world
03:39that, you know, there are good players in Oceania.
03:43But we believe that with that competition,
03:47there will be more window showcase about our potential players,
03:53and there will be a chance that they can join other professional clubs
03:59in the rest of the world.
04:01So this is why my ambition...
04:07The region is the hardest in the world
04:09to establish a competition of this nature.
04:12The lack of existing infrastructure,
04:14the economies of scale,
04:16and the start-up costs mean long-term success
04:19will require a major financial partnership with FIFA
04:22and the governing body's commitment
04:24to riding out some early speed humps.
04:30Always dream for it is to create...
04:33This Oceania confederation
04:35become the last professional confederation
04:39among the six confederations.
04:43It is the only opportunity,
04:45and we want changes to become professional.
04:47And with this professional league ambition,
04:53is we want to also change the management
04:56to become more professional.
04:58So these two have to go parallel.
05:00If you don't start to put professionalism in Oceania,
05:04there will always be some weaknesses
05:05in developing professional administration
05:08so that it can back up the professional league.
05:12So this is what I believe,
05:15is that the professional league
05:16is the main driver project for the whole Oceania.
05:23To further embed the OFC within FIFA,
05:26delegates from the region
05:27are now regular visitors
05:28to international gatherings,
05:30encouraged to return to their member associations
05:33and share examples of best practice
05:35from around the globe.
05:41It is important to be able to make comparisons,
05:44to be able to learn from other countries,
05:46cultures and organisations,
05:48to be able to improve,
05:51to see our differences at a technological level,
05:54to see what kind of technology we use,
05:57what is different,
05:59what we can improve,
06:00what we can do or not do.
06:05That's what is really interesting, in fact,
06:08is seeing the tools that everyone uses
06:11and seeing that if something works
06:13in someone else's situation,
06:15then why not try it for us?
06:24I think one of the key improvements
06:27that we've seen
06:28is the increase of women in leadership
06:30and I think it's a key area to work on.
06:35In the past,
06:36everybody knows football
06:38is a very male-dominated industry,
06:40so having women in decision-making
06:43really helps to balance the decision-making
06:46in that sense.
06:47And then it trickles down to
06:49women in football
06:51and women footballers,
06:52so it helps us
06:54in a more holistic decision-making process.
06:57So, you know,
06:58if you take the example of,
06:59you know,
07:00looking at other interests
07:01in terms of football,
07:02so, you know,
07:03we look at,
07:03say, a football player,
07:05you may be just looking at
07:06their contract,
07:07but then women think differently.
07:09They think about
07:10their personal life,
07:11their family,
07:12what keeps them happy.
07:13So, you know,
07:13it's kind of like
07:14bringing in everything together,
07:16so we have men and women
07:17both sharing the decision-making
07:18that I feel, you know,
07:20is a good progress forward.
07:23There is no question
07:24the OFC is a long way
07:26behind the rest of the world.
07:28But at the highest level of the game,
07:30the building blocks of progress
07:32are being laid.
07:34With the amount of money
07:35circulating in football,
07:37some of which can go toward
07:38supporting the rise of the OFC,
07:40it is surely only a matter of time
07:43before this football-mad part of the world
07:46becomes another nursery
07:47for the next generation of superstars.
