Auckland FC celebrate their OFC Pro League victory over South Melbourne. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
Oceania Football Confederation's (OFC) first-ever professional league is financially secured for the next three years.
OFC Pro League general manager Stuart Larman told RNZ Pacific it was rare that a new league could have the financial stability to carry on, and thanked the sport's world governing body, FIFA, and other commercial partners, that have backed the league.
He said there were learnings and positive feedback, especially commercially from those wanting to be a part of the league going forward.
The OFC Pro League was played across New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea from February to May.
Eight clubs, one from Australia, two from New Zealand and five from the Pacific islands, were part of the first series, which Auckland FC won in the end.
The other clubs that were part of the league were Bula FC from Fiji, Vanuatu United FC, Solomon Kings FC, PNG Hekari FC, Tahiti United FC, South Island United of New Zealand and South Melbourne from Australia.
Eight clubs: one from Australia, two from New Zealand and five from the Pacific Islands were part of the inaugural OFC Pro League season. Photo: OFC Media via Phototek
Despite some challenging weather conditions and low crowd turn-out at some of the venues, especially in Australia and New Zealand, Oceania Football is confident the league is here to stay.
The league, launched earlier this year, has a four-year budget of NZ$70 million, supplemented by a NZ$35 million investment from the Saudi Tourism Authority.
The Saudi funding is specifically for travel and accommodation expenses for the Pacific-based teams.
Larman said all that funding support has secured the league for the first four years, with new interests signalling even more positive news beyond that.
"We're very lucky to have the support of FIFA, I think that goes without saying," Larman said.
"I think we must acknowledge the importance of FIFA's role in making sure that the league can exist, and as we're able to set it up largely because of their support.
"But we also have commercial partners who have supported us, we are working with potential other new partners.
"Any league will long term always be dependent on the commercial and broadcast partners, and we're no different."
Larman said the league has gathered a lot of interest globally, with a lot of people expressing their surprise at the quality of the competition, which is testimony to the inclusion of players from other confederations who were recruited by the different competing clubs.
Larman said the OFC Pro League has gathered a lot of interest globally. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.nz
"I know that our marketing department are very busy fielding calls and in discussions with various different partners from different places, from this region and outside of this region," Larman said.
"We're very happy in terms of how I think people have been quite surprised at the quality of the league and the level of interest in the region, but further afield a lot of people have picked up on it from a global angle.
