00:07To secure the future of the Oceania Football Confederation and its 11 members,
00:13FIFA has committed to playing a hands-on role in the region.
00:18I'm very happy to be in New Caledonia today.
00:21It's a magnificent, beautiful country, but also one of football.
00:26It's a country which has produced world champions before, like Christian Carambeau, football champions.
00:35In 2023, FIFA president Gianni Infantino inaugurated a headquarters for the New Caledonian Football Association,
00:45instructed with support from the FIFA Forward Development Programme.
00:52Infantino also spent time in nearby Vanuatu and the Cook Islands,
00:57committing to infrastructure development and celebrating the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand
01:05as a tournament for the whole of the Oceania region.
01:08We'll invest together, we'll work together.
01:11We need the land, as we were discussing with the minister, and we will build because we want to give
01:17opportunities
01:18and chances to all children, all girls and all boys in Vanuatu to have an opportunity to be able to
01:27shine.
01:27We see there is now a Women's World Cup going on in New Zealand and Australia.
01:32This is the World Cup of the whole of Oceania, of the whole of the Pacific, and that's why we
01:37are here,
01:38we are the official ball of that Women's World Cup, because it has to be an inspiration for all women,
01:45but also for all men, for all girls, for all boys.
01:49That football is a possibility, is a way, not just for the players, but for everything that is around.
01:56In both New Caledonia and Vanuatu, Infantino promoted the launch of the region's OFC Professional League,
02:04a vital component in the creation of a football economy.
02:10We also want to bring professional football in the Pacific, a Pacific league,
02:16of which one club has to be in Vanuatu, which gives, again, opportunities for the talented children of this country
02:25to shine, and then maybe, of course, if they are good enough and become even better,
02:31to be transferred to some of the top clubs in Europe and all over the world.
02:36When I was elected, one of the most important projects that I wanted to do during my Monday
02:46is to create this professional league in Oceania.
02:50I think this is one of the most needed platforms of competition that we need
02:54to prepare, you know, to be competitive in the international level.
03:00So this is where I think Oceania needs that kind of platform.
03:04In 2019, the Oceania Football Confederation formed a task force
03:09to determine the viability of a professional football league for the Oceania region.
03:13The first attempt in 2021 was aborted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
03:20Then a second attempt was delayed to 2026.
03:24You know, the potential in Oceania is huge, but it's very little untapped
03:30because we had no this level of competitions in Oceania.
03:37This is why there is no much attention from the rest of the world that, you know,
03:42there are good players in Oceania.
03:45But we believe that with that competition, there will be more window showcased about our potential players
03:55and there will be chance that they can join other professional clubs in the rest of the world.
04:03So this is why my ambition.
04:09The region is the hardest in the world to establish a competition of this nature.
04:14The lack of existing infrastructure, the economies of scale and the startup costs
04:20mean long-term success will require a major financial partnership with FIFA
04:24and the governing body's commitment to riding out some early speed humps.
04:32I always dream for it is to create this Oceania confederation become
04:39the last professional confederation among the six confederations.
04:45It is the only imagine and we want changes to become professional.
04:49And with this professional league ambition, we want to also change the management to become more professional.
05:00So these two have to go parallel.
05:02If you don't start to put professionalism in Oceania,
05:06there will always have some weaknesses in developing professional administration
05:10so that it can back up the professional league.
05:13So this is what I believe is that the professional league is the main driver project for the whole Oceania.
05:25To further embed the OFC within FIFA,
05:28delegates from the region are now regular visitors to international gatherings,
05:32encouraged to return to their member associations
05:35and share examples of best practice from around the globe.
05:43It is important to be able to make comparisons,
05:46to be able to learn from other countries, cultures and organisations,
05:50to be able to improve,
05:53to see our differences at a technological level,
05:56to see what kind of technology we use,
05:59what is different,
06:01what we can improve,
06:02what we can do or not do.
06:07That's what is really interesting, in fact,
06:10is seeing the tools that everyone uses
06:13and seeing that if something works in someone else's situation,
06:17then why not try it for us?
06:26I think one of the key improvements that we've seen
06:30is the increase of women in leadership
06:32and I think it's a key area to work on.
06:37You know, in the past, you know,
06:38everybody knows football is a very male-dominated industry,
06:43so having women in decision-making really helps,
06:46you know, to balance the decision-making in that sense.
06:49So, and then it trickles down to, you know,
06:52women in football and women footballers.
06:54So, it helps us, you know,
06:57in a more holistic decision-making process.
06:59So, you know, if you take an example of, you know,
07:02looking at other interests in terms of football,
07:04so, you know, we look at, say, a football player,
07:07you may be just looking at their contract,
07:09but then women think differently.
07:11They think about their personal life, their family,
07:14what keeps them happy.
07:15So, you know, it's kind of like bringing in everything together.
07:18So, you have men and women both sharing the decision-making,
07:21that I feel, you know, is a good progress forward.
07:25There is no question the OFC is a long way behind the rest of the world.
07:30But at the highest level of the game,
07:32the building blocks of progress are being laid.
07:35And with the amount of money circulating in football,
07:39some of which can go towards supporting the rise of the OFC,
07:43it is surely only a matter of time
07:45before this football-mad part of the world
07:48becomes another nursery
07:49for the next generation of superstars.
07:53So, everyone is in the world.
07:53is that it's not reasonable
07:53because of society,
07:53a high thing of Almost A- использовать do that all requires
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