Football in Oceania has a new dedicated hub following the opening of the OFC’s Home of Football, or Te Kahu o Kiwa, to give it its official Māori name.

The project has received funding from both FIFA and Assist, UEFA’s global football development programme that supports our sister confederations and their national associations outside of Europe, ensuring the global game continues to grow.

AN ELITE BASE

Te Kahu o Kiwa was opened with a traditional blessing ceremony and will house OFC’s New Zealand staff, serving as a base for visiting personnel and teams from the confederation’s 11 member associations and two associate members.

In addition to the administration space, it will feature two artificial pitches and dressing rooms suitable for hosting elite matches.

The completion of the project will be marked with a formal inauguration by the end of June 2022.

Eva Pasquier, UEFA head of international relations:

“We are truly delighted to have supported the OFC Home of Football project over the last few years and look forward to visiting the new premises when travel restrictions are lifted.

“The Oceania Member Associations now have a new home where they can meet, discuss and further develop football across the entire region, and this would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of the entire OFC team. We congratulate them on this fantastic achievement.”

UEFA’s support for the Home of Football opening follows backing on the recent launch of OFC Learn, a free new educational platform funded by Assist and inspired by guidance from the UEFA Academy, which will revolutionise the way people learn by offering different educational resources, such as online courses, webinars, articles and group discussions, to OFC national associations and their staff, sharing examples of European best practice.

UEFA Assist: putting football first around the world

UEFA launched Assist, a football development programme, in 2017. Its objective: to share the experience and know-how of UEFA and its member associations beyond Europe.

By working closely with UEFA’s five sister confederations and FIFA, Assist has built on existing collaborations with the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North and Central America), CONMEBOL (South America) and the OFC (New Zealand and South Pacific island nations).

UEFA Assist initiatives focus on four main goals:

• Building capacity
• Developing youth football
• Strengthening infrastructure
• Supporting UEFA member associations to create their own solidarity programmes