August 29 – The Olympic men’s qualifier between New Zealand and Papua New Guinea was derailed after the island nation failed to travel to Auckland for the opening match of the regional tournament in against the hosts at the Mt Smart Stadium.
In a statement, the Oceania Football Confederation said that the “squad for the OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifier 2023 have been unable to travel to New Zealand” and that “the matter will be referred to the relevant FIFA judicial bodies”.
That could mean a 3-0 victory for New Zealand. Last season, Papua New Guinea didn’t show up for the group stages of the men’s Under-19 OFC Championship, but they still qualified for the last eight on goal difference. This time the team has failed to obtain the required travel documentation in time, but they could still feature against Fiji next weekend.
It’s the first time in a decade that New Zealand stage the tournament, and the New Zealand Herald reports that because of Papua New Guinea’s no-show, the New Zealand Football (NZF) is expected to incur significant logistics costs. The host nation now get their tournament underway on Wednesday against Fiji.
On Monday, Samoa defeated Tonga 3-0 and Solomon Islands prevailed with the same scoreline against Vanuatu.
The winner of the eight-team tournament will claim a ticket to the 2024 Olympic football tournament, an U-23 competition. Ever since Australia moved from the OFC to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), New Zealand have always represented the region at the Olympic Games, except at Rio 2016 when Fiji participated and finished bottom of their group.
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