By David Gold
February 8 -Oceania’s football qualifying tournament for the London 2012 Olympic Games will be held at the Owen Delany Park in Taupo, New Zealand, from March 16 until 25, after they moved from Fiji following a legal row involving a leading official.
Eight nations are taking part in the qualifiers – American Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu – with one place up for grabs in London.
“I would like to thank Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) staff, New Zealand Football staff and the Taupo District Council for working closely during this planning stage,” OFC general secretary Tai Nicholas said.
“The amount of local support coupled with the outstanding facilities at Owen Delany Park means that Taupo is an excellent choice to host this event.”
Those words were echoed by Grant McKavanagh, chief executive of the New Zealand Football Federation (NZF).
“New Zealand Football has a plan to take big football games around the country and this is very much a part of that plan,” McKavanagh said.
“People in the central North Island now get to take a look at some of the next wave of talent at the Olympic qualifiers.”
The qualifiers were originally scheduled to take place in Fiji, but have been moved by the OFC as their Government has threatened to charge Nicholas (pictured left) over comments published in Fiji about their judicial system.
Taupo Mayor Rick Cooper spoke of his delight at the award of the tournament to the region, saying: “This will be one event that will be a true inspiration to our district’s youngsters.
“I cannot wait for kick-off.
“Taupo is well regarded for hosting international squads as they recently looked after Wales, Ireland and the ex-world champion South Africans during the Rugby World Cup and this will be another chance for the district and the North Island in particular to get in behind a major footballing occasion for New Zealand.
“With the success in the 2010 Football World Cup it will be great for our locals to witness the future of the beautiful game right here on our doorstep.”
The qualifying tournament takes a round robin format which is followed by semi-finals and a final.
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