OFC Futsal Champions League returns to New Caledonia

Futsal enthusiasts have been eagerly awaiting their return for several years. After four consecutive cancellations due to the health context, the OFC (Oceania Football Confederation) Champions League finally resumed this Tuesday, April 23. An edition organized this year by New Caledonia and more precisely by the Arène du Sud in Païta.

“We have a great atmosphere and a stadium designed to reflect the fact that it is an international competition. We expect that between 3,000 and 3,500 people will come to attend the meetings, cumulatively over the course of the week“, indicates Romain Painbéni, head of communications for the federation.

The structure will host two matches per day between Two meetings which were eventually brought forward to 15.00 and 18.00 to allow more people to participate.

During this week, the elite of oceanic futsal will be well represented, each of the five participating clubs having won their country’s championship this year: Solomons of Mataks FC, Vanuatu of UNV FC, Fijians of Suva FC, Tongans of Veitongo FC and Caledonians of ASPTT, which reached the finals of the competition during the last edition in 2019.

The Caillou reps will try to do it as well, if not better, and they have solid arguments. The players led by James Namuli started in the best possible way this Tuesday, against Veitongo, with a clear score of 11-2. A successful first test before the second game, which will pit them against UNV FC on Tuesday, April 24.

Beyond the sporting issues, the meeting against Veitongo was held almost a year to the day after the death of Marcel Hnepeune, who had been captain of ASPTT. A lively tribute was given to him by players from both clubs just before kick-off.