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OFC Professional League šŸŒ

Monoethnic Social Club said:
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I just googled this and came across the following article.

If this is legitimate, then this has guaranteed the competition for at least the first 5 years.


https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com...st-almost-nz35-million-in-new-ofc-pro-league/


Saudi tourism body to invest almost NZ$35 million in new OFC Proā€™ League
posted in: News, OFC news, OFC Professional League, Uncategorized |
The Saudi Tourism Authority will invest almost NZ$35 million to help start the new OFC Professional League.

The money will help underwrite the costs of the new eight-club competition during its first four years, starting in January 2026.

The inaugural league will include New Zealand sides Auckland FC and South Island United.

The US$20 million STA backing was revealed during the official launch of Fijiā€™s participating club, to be called Bula FC.

Fiji FA president Rajesh Patel said: ā€œWe are thankful for this investment, which makes professional football a reality in our region.ā€

The STA is using football as a way to promote Saudi Arabia as a tourism destination, and launched an international marketing campaign called ā€˜I Came for Football, I Stayed for Moreā€™ in September, starring football legend Cristiano Ronaldo.

The advertisements promote Saudi Arabiaā€™s sports and entertainment events, as the nation gears up to host the 2034 FIFA Menā€™s World Cup, and the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

During the launch of Bula FC, Patel confirmed the Fiji FA would be a key investor in the club, along with private investors.

The chairman of the club will be Mark McElrath, managing director of McDonaldā€™s Fiji.

ā€œThis has been a dream of mine to see Fiji finally have a professional football club,ā€ McElrath said.

ā€œBula represents welcome; it represents life, and in general, it represents all of us in this country.

ā€œBula FC is going to be a club that brings people together and brings football together in Fiji.ā€

In other announcements at the launch, the club confirmed that while the application to join the league was made by Bula Boys FC, the club will play as Bula FC.

Patel said this anticipated expansion of the league to include womenā€™s teams.

ā€œWe know that as the professional league gets bigger, there will be not only male players. In the future we feel women will be there too,ā€ he said.

ā€œSo instead of just Bula Boys, it will be Bula FC. This prepares us for the womenā€™s professional league when it is added.ā€

The head coach for Bula will be SteĢphane Auvray, who has also been named the new head coach of the Fiji menā€™s national team.

Whoā€™ll be in the Pro League?​

The eight clubs in line to participate are:

New Zealand
  • Auckland FC
  • South Island United
Australia
  • South Melbourne
Fiji
  • Bula FC
Papua New Guinea
  • PNG Hekari (rebranded from Hekari United)
Solomon Islands
  • Solomon Kings
Tahiti
  • Tahiti United
Vanuatu
  • Vanuatu FC

How the league will work​

The first OFC Professional League season will run from January through to May 2026, with each club playing a minimum of 17 matches.

The first OFC Pro League will be played in a circuit format, with all teams gathering in one location to play three matches each across a 10-day window. The round-robin matches will be played in Auckland, Port Moresby, Melbourne, Honiara and Fiji.

After the circuit series phase, teams will be split into two play-off groups: Leaders and Challengers.

The Leaders Play-off Group will see the top four teams battle for three of the four semi-final spots, while the Challengers Play-off Group will involve the remaining teams, with the top side earning a playoff match against the fourth-placed team from the Leaders Group to determine the remaining semi-final berth.

The semi-finals and the final will be single-leg knockout matches.

The OFC Professional League will be officially launched at an event held in Auckland, on Wednesday October 29, 2025.
 
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Confirmation that South cannot qualify for World Club Cup, nor would it receive any distribution from prizemoney as a solidarity payment from the OFC representative.
 
Cannot explain how much I dislike the OFC Pro League being the qualifier for the Intercontinental Cup/CWC. Locks out every local club. In an ideal world the OCL would continue with OFC Pro sides qualifying for it.

16 team centralised OCL: 4xOFC Pro, 2x1-3 Nations (probably NZ, New Caledonia, Tahiti?), 1x4-7 Nations (probably Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, PNG), 1xQualifier, 1xDefending Champion. It just feels very Super League at the moment - if the local teams don't stand a chance so be it; but it's better than leaving arguably the second-best nation in the OFC without any chance at continental club competition.
 
The only motivation that I can see for South being involved in such a competition is to develop its younger players with added exposure to these types of tournaments and prizemoney.

If the Saudis are dropping USD $5 million per annum, then you'd have to assume the winner of the tournament would receive at least 3% as prize money, which equals USD$150,000 or about AUD$230,000. Not a bad payout for 4 months work.
 
SMFC1959 said:
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Confirmation that South cannot qualify for World Club Cup, nor would it receive any distribution from prizemoney as a solidarity payment from the OFC representative.
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No prize money has just put a major dent in my excitement for South. What's the point? Are OFC and FIFA just using South for reputation?
 
oranges said:
Cannot explain how much I dislike the OFC Pro League being the qualifier for the Intercontinental Cup/CWC. Locks out every local club. In an ideal world the OCL would continue with OFC Pro sides qualifying for it.

16 team centralised OCL: 4xOFC Pro, 2x1-3 Nations (probably NZ, New Caledonia, Tahiti?), 1x4-7 Nations (probably Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, PNG), 1xQualifier, 1xDefending Champion. It just feels very Super League at the moment - if the local teams don't stand a chance so be it; but it's better than leaving arguably the second-best nation in the OFC without any chance at continental club competition.
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I can see why fifa are doing this though. Maybe there should be playoffs with champions league winners or something to still give them a path?
 
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