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In May of this year a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) seeking to improve cooperation to enhance football in both confederations.
This in itself was a welcome development though not entirely unusual as these are the types of agreements that regional bodies in all fields make and the AFC has such MOUs with other confederations.
It is reasonable to assume that the FFA was aware of the drafting of the MOU and principle agreement before the extension of the Wellington Phoenix license in late February.
What is different was a follow-up meeting between the OFC and AFC on the 30th of August which sought to turn the MOU into a real and actionable document.
According to the AFC the meeting “covered the key areas of competitions, club licensing, development pathways, player development, referees, media and social responsibility, with both sides sharing views on best practice and agreeing to establish a timeline for continuing the dialogue.”
Importantly there has been a softening of the positions of some of the AFC’s Western members.
The Kuwait FA is embroiled in Kuwaiti family politics and is focused on its own efforts to have its AFC/FIFA ban lifted, a ban that was reinforced this week. The Qatar FA are seeking more friends to discourage any threat to its hosting of the 2022 World Cup.
Even Bahrain, whose loss to the All Whites for the 2010 World Cup qualification put strains on the A-League, have been courted by the OFC with Bahraini outfit Busaiteen participating in last year’s OFC President’s Cup.
The AFC are wary of the reputation damage that recent FIFA scandals have caused and are keen to be seen as a positive contributor towards social and economic development. Assisting a small confederation such as the OFC through cooperation is part of the process of addressing this concern.
For those who envisage the OFC joining the AFC or some other such mooted merger you will be disappointed.
Equally those hoping for a wholesale opening of AFC competitions to the OFC had also best temper expectations.
The MOU looks at three main areas, being:
A. Competitions: Forming the basis for possible future competitions between representative teams of the Confederations, which could contribute for mutual benefits of a technical and economic nature through national team football and club competitions, including national, club and representative teams having the opportunity to tour or host teams from both Confederations.
B. Education: Aimed at the promotion of football through the exchange of knowledge, experience and resources, and through the technical and administrative training of the Confederations.
C. Development: Developing the game of football with mutual cooperation between the confederations with the view that both the confederations must raise the standard of the game through solid development plans and strategies.
So what does all this mean?
For the FFA it means a softening of the stance in relation to the participation of Wellington Phoenix in the A-League. This will solidify the club’s position in the A-League and opens the possibility of the acceptance of the Phoenix into AFC run competitions.
It also means that the chances of Auckland City being seen in regional competitions has increased dramatically.
It is far too early to say that a club from Auckland or elsewhere in Oceania has come into play for A-League expansion, but for proponents of such a franchise this will be seen as a positive.
In all it is an interesting development and one that the FFA would do well to keep a very close eye upon.
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