The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) have initiated an innovative three-year partnership at a workshop in Düsseldorf, Germany, held alongside Euro 2024.
This collaboration will see OFC and UEFA jointly work on football management within the OFC Capacity Building Programs and on football development through OFC U-15 tournaments.
The partnership’s football management element began with a workshop on June 17th and 18th in Düsseldorf to launch the collaboration.
The workshop featured content delivered by the UEFA Academy team and experts, along with the OFC team and General Secretaries from UEFA member associations in Wales (Noel Mooney), Malta (Angelo Chetcuti), Faroe Islands (Kristin Dam Ziska), and the President of the Concacaf member association, Bermuda (Mark Wade).
The sessions focused on high-performance leadership and high-performance member associations, adopting an innovative and interactive format that encouraged peer-to-peer exchange.
OFC participants included General Secretaries Mohammed Yusuf of the Fiji Football Association, Lui ‘Aho of the Tonga Football Association, Ronna Lee of the Samoa Football Association, Leonard Paia of the Solomon Islands Football Association, and Moeama Mu-Greig of the Federation Tahitienne de Football.
Participants acknowledged the partnership’s positive impact from these early interactions. Fiji Football Association General Secretary Mohammed Yusuf found the workshop particularly beneficial, noting its interactive nature and active participation.
Yusuf emphasized that Fiji Football is working on implementing a high-performance culture, stating that the workshop has helped him better understand the workload of each head of department and foster an environment of appreciation and reward.
This marks the beginning of a three-year collaboration with UEFA, with more initiatives to follow.